


Back To The Future

by Blue_Night, GoForGoals



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anal Sex, Bug!John, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Gift of Life, Iratus-mutated Sheppard, M/M, Mind Oppression, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Runners, Time Travel, Wraith, Wraith Feeding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-04 13:22:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5335631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Blue_Night, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoForGoals/pseuds/GoForGoals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Atlantis has formed an alliance with Todd and his twelve Hives and John Sheppard has become his mate. When Major Lorne and his team find an Ancient outpost with interesting technology, Sheppard goes there with his team to check it. Unfortunately, the device McKay activates by accident transports them several thousand years into the past and they are trapped by a cruel and dangerous Wraith Lord. He feeds on John and gives him back his life several times before making him and Ronon Runners, leaving them on a planet where they are hunted by his blades. Rodney and Teyla in the meantime have to help the Lord who wants to build his own clone facility to become the ruler of the Pegasus Galaxy. Rodney has to work with one of the Wraith scientists and Teyla shall control a young Queen who is needed for the clones.<br/>When John, who has started to partly transform into the Iratus-bug again, and Ronon escape to another planet, the Wraith worshippers living there call their own Queen. The Commander of this Queen is no one else than Todd, only much younger. Will this younger Todd be willing to believe John and help them? And will they ever find a way back into their own time again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trapped In The Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dragonflower1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonflower1/gifts), [Dulinneth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dulinneth/gifts).



> This WIP poked me for several days and it has been a very long time since I have last had the plot for a story that clearly in mind. The chapters are all planned, so this story shouldn't take too long to write. Lovely GoForGoals, whom I could infect with my love for Wraith, agreed to join forces with me, and our co-production already works as wonderfully as it always does in the Football Fandom. 
> 
> We want to dedicate this story to you, dragonflower1 and Dulinneth. 
> 
> Dear dragonflower1, I want to gift this story to you because in November, two years ago, I stumbled over your fic Best Laid Plans, and without you and your awesome story, I would never have joined AO3 and thought of posting stories there myself, even though I wrote stories for a very long time. I think that I read Best Laid Plans at least 20 times and your Todd was the reason why I started to brush up my English after more than 15 years just to be able to read your story. You know where it led to... It is a little bit late for our anniversary, but, I hope that you will enjoy this story and have fun reading it. Knowing how much you love stories about bug!John, there will be (hopefully) plenty of bug!John in there. He will be different from the bug!John in 'Way Of Life', but still bug!John.
> 
> Dear Dulinneth, thank you so much for everything you have done for me and still do, I know that you don't have much time at the moment, but, I do hope that you will have time to read this story and enjoy it. Without you and your patience, my English wouldn't be half as good and fluent as it is, you taught me more than all of my teachers in school were able to and you enriched my life more than I can tell you. Thank you for all of that, dear.
> 
> Dear readers, I hope you will enjoy this story, there are far too little stories about the fascinating beings the Wraith actually are in this fandom and especially about John and Todd, my absolutely favorite OTP, please, let us know if you liked it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and his team explore the Ancients' facility and McKay activates the device that throws them into the past..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did our best to describe the technology as logical as possible, but, we are no scientists, so please bear with our inaccuracies.

_Prologue:_

 

_“The facility is surely worth taking a closer look. It is Ancient technology and a lot of it seems to be still intact,” Major Lorne said as he reported the news from his last mission to his superior Colonel John Sheppard. “Dr. Layton found it best to go back and talk to you, he thought that Dr. McKay would be the best scientist for further exploration.”_

_John pursed his lips as he considered what his second had just told him. It had been a rather long time since he had last been on an interesting mission himself with his team, and if he was truly honest with himself, he craved to go there with his team and explore the Ancient facility instead of being stuck in his office in Atlantis or on board the Hive of his mate Todd, who also happened to be the most important ally Atlantis had with his twelve Hives. Todd had behaved strangely during the last few weeks and he hadn't been really willing to let his human mate go on off-world missions but, he had refused to tell him the reason, using excuses and busying him with stuff John didn't really appreciate and he was seriously getting annoyed and bored._

_“Alright, thank you, Major Lorne. I will talk to Todd and see whether or not he knows anything about this outpost and then, go there myself with my team. We can't get enough knowledge about the Ancients and their technology, even with our alliance with Todd and his Hives and the relative peace we have at the moment. Maybe, there will even be a ZPM waiting for us.”_

_Major Lorne nodded his head. “Dr. Layton recorded some strange energy flows, so there must be some power source still intact there,” he agreed and John smiled grimly. “Fair enough, let's see what Todd has to say to that.”_

 

*~*~*~*

 

_Todd had only little to say to that, something John was amazed about, considering his mate's behavior during the last weeks. The hazel-eyed colonel had found out that Wraiths were very possessive and protective beings when it came to their mates shortly after they had come together, but Todd had never behaved that way before and almost forbidden him to go off world._

_The tall Wraith Commander in charge of twelve powerful Hives stood on the bridge of his flagship with an unreadable expression on his face as he listened to the news his human mate had to tell him._

_“I assume that you want to go there with your team yourself, Sheppard,” he only stated when John was done with his report._

_John folded his arms before his chest, willing to fight with his sometimes pretty annoying Wraith about this. “Yep. It's been a rather long time I was off world myself and you know that I know best how to tame McKay and keep him in place,” he said, determined to not let Todd play tricks on him again to make him stay in Atlantis._

_The tall commander didn't answer to that, only stared at his screen as if he was searching for an answer there John didn't know the question to. The dark-haired man frowned. John had gotten used to his mate's sometimes strange habits and reactions, but, Todd's odd behavior really confused him._

_“Hm. It might be a good thing for you to go off world again. You were pretty short-tempered for the last couple of days, Sheppard,” Todd remarked casually after one moment of uncomfortable silence, shooting him a brief but strange look John wasn't able to detect before it was gone again. He suppressed his urge to tell his mate that his own way of keeping him trapped in Atlantis was the reason for his human's mate short temper and annoyance. Fighting about this would get him nowhere and John didn't want to risk that his Wraith mate would change his mind about that again and make him stay on board his Hive, sending another team to the Ancient's outpost instead. The look in the golden cat's eyes before Todd quickly averted his gaze made him feel mistrustfully though, and he narrowed his eyes as he watched the ancient commander warily. “Did you know about this outpost, Todd?” The tall Wraith was more than ten thousand years old and probably knew the Pegasus galaxy better than any other living being, but, he was very picky when it came to which parts of his great knowledge he wanted to share with his allies and didn't tell John half as much as the hazel-eyed colonel would have liked him to do._

_The commander refused to look at him, typing something on the console before him. “Yes, I know the place, Sheppard,” he only replied, sounding rather vague._

_“You never mentioned it.” John couldn't help but poke about._

_Todd shrugged his shoulders. “There are a lot of Ancient's outpost I know about and which you didn't visit so far. There were other things much more important during the last year, Sheppard.” He paused, finally gazing at his annoyed human mate from the side, gifting him with a brief, almost tender smile. “I have nothing against you going there with your team, Sheppard. Just be careful, please, will you?”_

 

*~*~*~*

 

_Hours later, in the facility of the Ancients:_

 

John remembered his talk with Todd a couple of hours later when he watched his friend and teammate Dr. Rodney McKay typing on one of the consoles in the surprisingly undamaged facility, listening to the scientist's rambling only with one ear.

There was this strange feeling nagging at him that Todd knew more about this outpost than he had wanted to admit, something important he hadn't told John. Only, why should his mate hide things from him that could be important on such a mission? John didn't doubt the Wraith's honest and true feelings for him, and he also really didn't think that Todd would put him and his team into danger, deliberately, but the gnawing doubt just didn't want to go away, increasing with every minute that passed.  
The ancient commander's behavior had been quite confusing and John suddenly had a very bad feeling in his guts although the outpost had obviously been abandoned a long time ago. Yet, it was in astonishing good state and this aroused John's mistrust.

“Hah!!” McKay's triumphant voice pulled him out of his musings. Teyla and Ronon, who had strolled around in the corridor outside the chamber where the scientist had started to work when they had arrived in the old facility, walked back to them, stepping beside Rodney.  
The old labs had been carved into the underground as most of the important Ancient facilities had been built under the surface of the planets to hide them from their lethal enemies, the Wraith.  
Lorne and his team had found them by accident when one of his team-members had literally stumbled over the entrance between the old ruins of the small outpost that had seemed to be rather unimportant and only a small village at first sight.  
The centuries had ablated the earth and sole over the tunnel leading down to the hidden place and Major Lorne had taken the risk to explore the damaged tunnel and check the first rooms of the underground building. There surely was another entrance, the official one, but John had taken the same way with his team as Lorne had done after making sure that the tunnel wouldn't collapse further.

John focused his attention on his friend who scrolled through the data he apparently found worthy enough to be 'hahed', suppressing a smirk when he caught the tall Satedan's gaze. Ronon had said nothing, but John could see how uncomfortable the big man felt, being forced to play the bodyguard for McKay during his endless research without the prospect of a good fight. Teyla looked interested, gazing over Rodney's shoulder.

“You found something, Rodney?” she asked and the genius vigorously nodded his head. “You probably remember that there was a Jumper in Atlantis which traveled back through time?” he inquired, glancing back and forth between John and the Athosian.

John nodded, the bad feeling pooling in his gut increasing even more. “Yeah, I remember what the other Elizabeth told us about the Jumper. It wasn't us finding it,” he corrected, but the scientist waved his arguments away. Ronon made a rumbling sound in his throat that proved his clear discomfort as much as a loud complaint from any other man John knew would have done.

“It was the other us and that's as good as if it had been us ourselves!” McKay retorted stubbornly. John raised an eyebrow at that statement. “You have a strange way to look at things sometimes, Rodney.”

The scientist only rolled his eyes. “However, this facility experimented with time travel, as well. There must be a chamber with the equipment for that. If we're lucky, we will find it rather intact, judging by the rest of this underground building. Maybe, it was only given up and the Wraith never found it,” he said eagerly and Ronon made another sound that showed his genuine displeasure.

“Don't tell me that you really want to travel through time, McKay!” the big Satedan growled and Rodney ducked his head a little bit. “Not unprepared, of course. Even though it surely would be interesting...” John shot him a look that silenced him quickly and effectively, but didn't keep him from acting like the always misunderstood and underestimated genius he considered himself to be, rolling his eyes, theatrically.

“The point is that you need a lot of energy for time traveling, and I hope to find this source that most likely will be at least one ZPM. We're always in the need of ZPMs and maybe, it is still full and we can use it. The data here says that the lab must be two or three levels deeper in the underground.” McKay looked expectantly around, and John had to admit that a ZPM actually would be useful enough to search for it. He exchanged glances with Teyla and Ronon, and the Athosian woman thoughtfully nodded her head after thinking about it two or three seconds. “I tend to agree with Rodney. A ZPM would be needed for the shields and the cloak of Atlantis in case we'll be attacked. Todd's Hives protect our city, but when I visited my folks yesterday, they told me that they heard rumors about this new alliance of two other Wraith clans. The negotiations apparently go faster than we first thought and even though it is not likely that they'll try to attack Atlantis with only five Hives at the moment, but we should better be prepared.”

John had discussed this alliance with Todd a couple of days ago, it had been one reason why his mate had insisted on him staying in Atlantis for a while and maybe, the prospect of finding a ZPM had been the reason why he hadn't said anything against John going on this mission today. He nodded his head. “Alright, we'll have a closer look then and search for that chamber. But no experiments, McKay!” he told him strictly as the scientist's face lit up with something akin to bliss.

“Don't worry, Sheppard, I will shoot him if McKay tries something!” Ronon assured him with a growl and Rodney let out an indignant yelp, rambling about his genius and his importance as they made their way down into the unknown belly of the old facility the Ancients had built more than ten thousand years ago.

 

*~*~*~*

 

However, Rodney soon concentrated on their mission again. They had to stick together right now, personal interests not important at the moment. All of them were professional enough to focus on their task, forming an union - one for all and all for one.

He knew as well as Ronon, McKay, Teyla, John and all the others in the Pegasus Galaxy, how important intact ZPMs were for them. Those energy sources were as precious to them as gold and jewels had been to the ancient cultures on Earth, even more. Without energy, no shields and no cloak, and that would mean the death of thousands of people in case they would be attacked by hostile Wraith. As much as Rodney longed to take a closer look and check the technology that made traveling through time possible, he knew that getting the ZPM that most likely powered this technology was far more important at the moment. Maybe, they could get back here later on and use Naquadah-generators to explore the inheritance of the Ancients further

Suddenly, as they reached deeper into the facility, they saw a pulsing light that came out of a chamber, visible through the small slit underneath the closed door. „I think we found it,“ Teyla stated the obvious. The Athosian didn’t let show any signs of excitement, she kept cool, always thinking straight-forward. „But I guess we won’t get the ZPM so easily - if it is in there, that is.“

„Knowing McKay's strange ability to 'smell' ZPMs, it probably is“ John stated, dryly, eyeing the door before glancing at the scientist. “You didn't happen to have activated something in the other chamber, Rodney, did you?”

„Would I ever do that without telling you,“ McKay defended himself, but, he couldn't hide his slight blush as he stopped his movements. „Didn’t you hear a strange sound, like a humming?“ he asked in the attempt to distract his team-leader.

„You’re hearing the walls speak,“ John murmured but in the next second, Rodney could see by the expression on his face that the colonel heard the strange sound himself - and it was even increasing.

„We better hurry up,“ Ronon stated, speeding up his pace until they stood in front of the entrance door of said chamber. The humming enwrapped them constantly in the meantime, as if the chamber was inviting them. And indeed, the door opened without any mechanism one of them would have released.

„Be careful!“ John warned them and this time, everybody was taking him serious. They spied into the chamber, seeing some computers there, lined up on a large table. In front of them was a screen that flickered, radiating the light they had seen earlier.

Teyla stepped closer, determined. „It’s Ancient technology, isn’t it,“ she stated once again the obvious but John bit back a remark.

„Yes,“ Rodney explained, inspecting the devices closely. „Here, this seems to be the main computer, it will take a while to download the data, I want to check it in Atlantis. I'll have to activate it for the download,” he murmured to himself. „No!“ Ronon hissed but, it was already too late. Rodney hat pressed the button curiously, activating the main computer. All of them held their breaths but at first, nothing happened. Then, Ancient writing appeared onto the screen. John and Teyla leaned against the wall next to the computer while Ronon paced up and down in front of him, nervously. Rodney knew what the big Satedan wanted to express with it, but, the data was far too interesting that he would have bothered. For a while, he was totally caught up, but then, he looked up with a smile. “The dialect the Ancients used is rather difficult, even for me,” Rodney said, chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip, and John narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure that you can translate it right, McKay?” he asked, mistrustfully, obviously remembering other missions when Rodney had gotten them into trouble.

„Sure I can,“ Rodney stated self-convinced. He narrowed his eyes, trying to decipher the text. „It seems that our suspicion is right, there must be a ZPM! This is actually the chamber where the Ancients experimented with time traveling.“  
His excitement took the upper hand, and he grabbed his laptop and a generator, starting them, as well. He typed onto his laptop in a frantic pace, murmuring to himself as he read the data on the screen, frowning now and then while the other ones followed the movements of his fingers on the keyboard until he suddenly stopped.

„There are some reports of their time travels, pretty interesting I can tell you. We really have to come back here and check that. As far as I can tell it, the devices are still intact and time traveling would be possible. We might even be able to power them with our own Naquadah-generators. There is something about a fail-safe I have read, but, this can wait until later. There are two ZPMs, and they actually must be at least still half-full, so we can use them for our shields and the cloak. We have to start this console here,“ he pointed at a plain device nearby, „it will provide us access to the ZPM.“

„Then what are you waiting for?“ Ronon exclaimed, running out of patience.

The bad feeling in John's guts became stronger again and he addressed Teyla. „What if it’s not the right console, maybe we should…“ He couldn’t finish his sentence when he saw that Rodney had pushed the activating button of the console with the suspected ZPM.

„Stop it!“ Teyla yelled, „don’t do it!“, but, it was already too late. A sudden, incredibly bright lightning bold blinded them, filling the whole chamber and taking away all of their senses.

And then, even the humming stopped and everything went black.

 

*~*~*~*

 

John felt disorientated and dizzy when he came to again, the groans and grunts next to him proving to him that his companions suffered from the same problems. He blinked his eyes open, looking around as he stood up, leaning against the wall for one moment. The chamber seemed to be the same as it had been before the blinding light-beam that had struck them, but John's well-trained senses noticed the difference within an instant. Rodney's equipment wasn't where it had been placed on one of the consoles any longer, and the light was rather gloomy, reminding John of the diffuse violet and green glowing of Wraith Hives.

Ronon beside him cursed under his breath as the tall man stumbled to his feet, his knuckles turning white with the force he grabbed his weapon.

Teyla was the next who got up to her feet in a slower pace than the Satedan, and her first sentence alarmed John, instantly. “I can feel the Wraith nearby.”

“Crap!” the colonel cursed, bending down to shake the scientist awake. “McKay, wake up! The Wraith are coming!”

Rodney jumped to his feet with a startled yelp, his eyes flickering unsteadily around before his vision cleared. “Shit! Where are we?” he asked, stumbling to the console where he had worked on before the light had hit them. “Where is my laptop? Where is the generator?” he demanded reproachfully, making not only John scowl at him, but also the normally calm Athosian and Ronon.

“If I had to guess, than I would say that your laptop is still where we have been before you fucked everything up, McKay. In the future. Is there any chance to get back before the Wraith will be here?” John asked, his voice almost carefree, but McKay heard the annoyed undertone and flinched, his bad conscience written all over his face.

“I fear not. The time travel device here had a safety precaution as I said it before. I'm not entirely sure, but if I translated the dialect right, then it can only be activated from someone who remained in the time-line from where we came. From the future in this case. The Ancients who built this lab were still experimenting.”

Deadly silence greeted his confession, three pairs of eyes glaring angrily at him. “And you didn't tell us that before you started, why?” John wanted to know, the bad feeling that had rummaged in his guts ever since they had arrived in the facility that intensive that it was like a sharp pain in his stomach right now.

Rodney cast his eyes down, staring blindly at the spot where his computer probably still was – only in another time. “I thought that I had translated the data correctly. I really thought that we would get the ZPM this way and without activating the device that would bring us in another time.”

“I see. Do you have any clue where we are? Or better when we are?” Teyla spoke up before Ronon could threat the scientist that he would stun him the next time he touched anything he wasn't sure about. Rodney pursed his lips. “Judging by the intensity of the beam and how I feel, a couple of centuries, at least, probably several thousand years,” he admitted and all John could do for one or two seconds was staring incredulously at him, Todd's last words about him staying safe ringing in his ears.

“Rodney, I'll swear the next time you'll touch...” he couldn't finish his promise because Teyla jerked her head to the door to the chamber that was closed. Another proof that they weren't anymore where they had been, because they had left the door open and it didn't look as old as 'their' door had looked like. “The Wraith?” he asked right before the door suddenly slid open, revealing four Wraith blades standing in the threshold, faces grim, and the weapons in their hands pointing at John and his teammates. Six intimidating looking drones with the usual masks before their faces appeared behind the four blades.

When Ronon raised his own stunner, John hit his arm, forcing him to drop it down again. “No feats, Ronon!” he hissed, turning to the door again and showing all his teeth as he grinned at the Wraith watching them. “Hi! We didn't want to disturb you. If you let our genius here work for a while, I'm sure that we'll be able to get back where we belong...”

One of the blades raised his stunner, his expression unmoved. John cocked his head to the side, steeling himself for the impact. “I'll take that as a no,” was all he could say before the blast threw him to the ground and everything went dark again.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The next waking up was much slower, John nursing a horrible headache from the Wraith stunner. He stayed where he was, lying on a slightly yielding ground with closed eyes until the worst after pains from the large doze that had hit him had worn off. When he felt confident enough that he wouldn't throw up, he carefully hauled himself into a somewhat upright position and opened his eyes.

The hazel-eyed colonel was exactly where he had expected to be, in one of those well-known and well-hated Wraith prison cells, the surroundings looking much more familiar than he would have liked them to be. It had been a rather long time since he had last spent his time in such a cell, about two years ago, before Atlantis had returned to the Pegasus galaxy after her stay on Earth.

John sighed. The cell was the least of their problems. The fact that they were trapped in the past was much worse and much more difficult to solve if Rodney had been right with what he had said about someone in the future having to activate the Ancient device to get them back again. When he turned his head to the other side, he could see Ronon, Teyla and Rodney lying at the other side of the cell and he crawled over the pulsing floor, gently shaking Ronon's shoulder. The Satedan came back to his senses with a roar, sitting up too fast and falling back onto the ground with a pained groan.

John let him deal with the aftermath of the stunning, repeating the procedure with Rodney and Teyla. He supported the Athosian while Rodney managed to sit up with a miserable complaint by himself and after about ten minutes, they were all awake and discussing their situation.

“Are you really sure that we can't go back to our own time-line on our own?” John asked Rodney again and the scientist slumped his shoulders. “I don't think so, John. We don't even know where we are, I mean in which year of the past. Maybe, if we could find that out, but I don't think so.”

Ronon frowned at that, his eyes shooting daggers at the picture of misery sitting crouched on the floor of their prison cell. “And how can someone of our own present – the future – get us back without knowing where or when we are?” he snarled and Teyla nodded her head. “Yes, Rodney, I want to know that, too.”

Rodney picked some threads from his BDU. “That's rather simple. As long as no one else activates it to let themselves be transported into the past, the device will bring us back if activated again. We only have to be in the chamber when that happens. Todd and Major Lorne know where we went...” his voice trailed off when he caught John's glare.

“There is only the minor problem of us not being in this chamber any longer, but being trapped on a Hive instead. We have no clue where we are and whether or not we will be able to break free and go back there. What will happen if Todd finds the chamber and activates the device without us being in there just in time?” the colonel asked impassively and Rodney shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture.

“I don't know, but I guess that nothing will happen if no one else tries to get into the future or the past. I read something about a scanner noticing the life-signs of the travelers and this most likely activated the technology. Maybe, we stood right under the scanner or so. Todd is almost as clever as I am, he won't rest until he'll have his mate back, John.” His weak attempt to console John was rewarded with a snort, a stern look and a raised eyebrow. “Almost as clever as you? I think I remember several occasions when he fooled you. I do hope that he will be cleverer than you and find a way to get us back or contact us. Hopefully, he won't step into the same trap as we did. We have to find a way to escape and go back to the outpost as fast as possible though. Any suggestions?”

Ronon pulled one of the blades he had hidden underneath his clothing out of his boot. “We could fight our way out of here,” he growled, but Teyla shook her head. “We need to know where we are first. We won't be able to escape if we are in space.”

John gifted her with a crooked grin. “I know how to fly a Dart and I could carry you in the buffer. But, you're right, we need to find out where we are and who trapped us. Can you tell us more, Teyla?”

The Athosian closed her eyes, John could see the small frown of pain between her eyebrows. It must be hard for her after having been stunned with a large dose, but, the female leader of her people didn't hesitate and concentrated on her mental abilities to learn more about the Wraith that had imprisoned them.

After a while, she opened her eyes again, her gaze unfocused for a few seconds. “I can't feel the presence of a Queen. There are only male Wraith on board and only a few of them with strong telepathic abilities. I'm not sure, but I don't think that we are on a ship, we could also be on a planet. This seems to be a Wraith facility and they work on something, but I don't know what it is. Maybe later. But, there is a powerful presence of one male Wraith, probably the Commander. I had to draw back before he noticed my attempts to read his thoughts.” A slight shudder captured her, and John realized that they were in deep trouble if the Commander of this place was able to frighten the Athosian.

“We have to be careful, but without a Queen, escaping might be easier,” he said, and the others nodded their heads even though Rodney and Teyla didn't look convinced. Only Ronon smiled grimly and contentedly, playing with his knife until Rodney crawled away and ducked his head. “You shouldn't play with your knife so openly. Someone could notice it,” he told him off. The Satedan glared at him but when he noticed John's unspoken order, he stuffed it back into his boot.

For a while, they sat there in silence, each of them still affected by the stunning. A sound coming from the bars made John look up and he slowly rose to his feet when he saw the two drones and the blade standing before their cell. The Wraith was tall and broadly built, dreadlocks similar to Ronon's cascading over his back, only that his hair showed the usual silver-white. He held two pairs of handcuffs in his hands while the drones pointed with their weapons at the four humans.

The warrior jerked his head at Ronon and John. “The two of you, come with me. And no tricks, the weapons are not in the stunning mode. I have no problems with ordering the drones to kill the other two,” he snarled and John nodded his head and came to the bars.

“Behave, Ronon. He won't hesitate to kill Rodney and Teyla,” he murmured through his teeth and the tall man growled but obeyed without trying to attack the Wraith when the bars slid to the side, just as much that John and Ronon could step out of the cell. The blade pulled Ronon's arms behind his back, sensing that he was the one who would try to attack much easier, closing the metal cuffs around his wrists. Ronon gritted his teeth but stood still and John was grateful for that, because he could see in the Wraith's cold yellow eyes that he would order the drones to kill his two friends without hesitation. They were stuck in the past, no one knew them here in this time and for this Wraith, they were not of any value so far.

The colonel let himself be chained like Ronon and then, the drones pushed them forward with the barrels of their guns as they stumbled their way through the dark-red corridors of the building they were trapped in. The blade walked in front of them, leading them around several corners and through more tunnels until they reached a large, empty hall with a Wraith throne in the middle of it. Damp mists wafted around, and John needed a moment until he could see the tall figure sitting on the throne clearly enough. Ronon standing beside him gasped out and his tall body tensed up as if he wanted to attack the creature on the throne the very next second.

“Ronon, stay calm!” John hissed before focusing on the Wraith before them again and when he took a closer look, John had to swallow, because the creature filling the seat, completely, was the most horrible Wraith the colonel had ever seen.


	2. The Wraith Lord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ronon meet the Wraith Lord for the first time. He wants to make them runners after feeding on John, but kill Teyla and Rodney. Will they find a way to save them from being killed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear dragonflower1, dear Dulinneth, we hope that you will enjoy the second chapter as much as the first one, we have so much fun with this story. We hope that our bad Wraith Lord is as scary as we wanted him to be. 
> 
> Warning: this chapter contains violence in form of the Lord feeding on John, Ronon fighting against the Lord's blade and drones and elements of non-consensual sex between two male Wraith.

The blade who had brought them here kicked John in his knee pit and he stumbled forward in the direction of the throne before he dropped down on his knees, his eyes glued to the Wraith sitting in the throne and bathed in gloomy greenish light.

John still remembered the nasty Wraith Lord who had wanted to kill Ronon at all costs, but this one was even nastier and uglier. The colonel had to admit that he felt real fear as he took in the sight in front of him. Ronon fell onto the ground next to him, he had apparently tried to stay on his feet and the blade hadn't taken that well, making sure that the impudent human showed the appropriate behavior in front of his Lord, but John simply couldn't avert his eyes from the alien male to look at his teammate and see whether or not he was hurt.

The Wraith must be really tall and broad, because he filled the large throne, completely, and he towered over Ronon and him even though he was sitting, the pedestal where the throne was placed upon not that high to cause this impression itself John had as he looked up at him. His head was shaven apart from the short spiky white Mohawk on top of his bald head, and his alien earlobes were pierced with several black and silvery rings and chains. His skin didn't show the usual light green or blue color, but was a rather dark gray, and there was a thick scar in a lighter gray winding its way from his chin over the right side of his face up to his skull, splitting his face in two halves. The Wraith must have done something with his teeth, because they were much longer and black instead of the usual translucent color John knew from the teeth of other Wraith as the creature now opened his mouth for an annoyed hiss. John didn't know whether the hiss was aimed at Ronon and him or if he had gotten a telepathic information he wasn't pleased about, and he couldn't hide the slight shudder wrecking him. The usual goatee all Wraith John knew wore was braided into two long and thin braids hanging down from the prominent and square chin, and the braids boosted the impression that the Lord's teeth were longer and sharper than other Wraith teeth.

The alien male wore the leather-like trousers John knew from his mate Todd, but, there were some kind of protections over the knees, riddled with a bundle of sharp metal spikes John knew from the protection clothes motorcycle bikers wore, only without the spikes, of course.  
The Wraith Lord didn't wear a long coat like other Commanders but a shorter jacket looking like a biker jacket, as well, the shoulders and elbows riddled with the same spikes as the trousers were, and the nails of his long claw-like fingers were painted black. The alien male wore several heavy rings on his fingers, but they left his fingertips free and weren't like the strange finger jewelry Wraith normally preferred.

All in all, the creature reminded the dark-haired human of the musician of a death metal band and he surely was a living nightmare of the worst kind.

But, the thing really frightening John was the tattoo covering the entire left side of his face.

The colonel had needed a moment to realize what the tattoos looked like and his heart had almost stopped beating when realization had hit him: the tattoos looked exactly as if several Iratus bugs were crawling over the Wraith's face.

John suppressed a dry retch and Ronon's strangled gasp told him that the big Satedan kneeling beside him had come to the same conclusion as he himself at the very same time.

This was the moment the Wraith Lord chose to stand up from his throne and haul John to his feet with another angry hiss.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“You smell of another Wraith!” the tall creature roared and it was clear that he wasn't pleased about that fact, at all.

Shit! John had forgotten that his scent had changed ever since Todd had mated with him. Humans couldn't smell the change, they saw only the mark on his throat Todd left there on a regular basis, but, the last time he had done so had been a couple of days ago, and the mark was hardly visible any longer and also hidden by the collar of his jacket at the moment.

But, other Wraith smelled the change in his human scent, of course, and the Lord must have smelled it right when John had come near him. That was most likely the reason for his annoyed hiss.

“Whose worshiper are you?! Which Wraith disgraced our race by taking you in their bed, human?!” the ugly space vampire growled, and John was taken aback for one moment. No other Wraith had ever insulted him by calling him Todd's worshiper and John opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again, remembering that the device had thrown them into the past, most likely several thousand years. The war with the Ancients must still be fresh in each and every Wraith's memory and in this time, surely no Wraith even thought of taking a human as a mate. However, the Lord took him only for a worshiper, the mere thought of any Wraith taking a human mate too devious to him to even consider it briefly. The commander probably knew that they came from the future but, this didn't mean that he thought about the possibility of other specimen of his race ever mating with humans who were unworthy and only food in his narrow-minded opinion.

“Answer me, human!” the Wraith Lord shook him in his anger, and John knew that he'd better obey and give the ugly creature the answer he expected, as always in John Sheppard's own unique way.

The colonel shrugged his shoulder, looking up at the huge alien. “The worshiper of someone looking much better than you.” The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized what he had said, and they earned him another violent shake that made his teeth clatter against each other.

The angry male narrowed his reptile eyes. “I should kill you for your impudence, human, but I will make you a runner instead, you and your friend. My blades need to train and you look as if you could be a proper runner at least for a while. There are too little humans looking as strong as you and your companion in our galaxy. But, before my scientist will implant the transmitter, I will feed on you, human. You smell strong and it will be my greatest pleasure to feed on the personal worshiper of another Wraith Commander!”

John felt himself paling, but he stared back into the yellow eyes filled with hate and greediness, not willing to back away as the living nightmare ripped his jacket open and slammed his feeding hand into his now bare chest.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Ronon heard himself howling as he struggled against the metal chains around his wrists and the drone easily keeping him on his knees. Sheppard needed him and he had to get up and help him, killing the damn monster that fed on his team-leader, ripping his life out of him just to shove it back again and again, enjoying the human's screams as he did so.

The Satedan still remembered so well what another Wraith had done to him as he had fed on him just to give him his life back until Ronon had been under his spell, his only wish to feel the delicious pain of the feeding and the ecstasy of the Gift of Life again, craving for the drug-like enzyme and its side effects, addicted and turned into a worshiper without any free will and self-respect.

The slim body of the colonel shook under the spasms of pain and ecstasy and the hoarse cries the dark-haired soldier couldn't hold back echoed in the misty air of the large hall and rang loudly in Ronon's ears. He balled his fists, struggling against the drone again. His rage and his despair provided him with unexpected strength and he managed to kick out with one leg, hitting the drone against its shinbone and taking it by surprise. The drone stumbled back and Ronon managed to get up to his feet, turning around his axis, kicking and using his tied hands like some kind of hammer as he whirled around, fighting against the drones and the blade. He couldn't risk to take a look at the colonel and the horrible creature feeding from him, but, Sheppard's groans and shouts proved clearly enough that the Lord wasn't done with him yet.

The drones seemed to be confused by his fast whirling and kicking and for one moment, Ronon thought that he might be able to defeat them, but just when he had kicked the drone at his left side in its stomach, he saw the blade raising the stunner and this time, the Satedan couldn't get out of the way fast enough. He let himself fall down to the yielding floor and to the side, the blast of the stunner only grazing him, but he didn't feel his legs anymore, lying helplessly on the ground between the wafts of mist.

“Aaargghhhh!! You!!!” he roared with helpless rage and fury, crawling in the direction where he could see his team-leader shaking in the grip of the Wraith Lord, his voice raw from his screams.

Just when he reached them, the Lord shoved the dark-haired colonel away from him and Sheppard fell down beside him, panting heavily. Ronon's eyes wandered to the fresh mark on the pale chest as if attracted by a magnet. The big man with the dreadlocks swallowed hard, nausea pooling in his stomach when he saw the wounds the claws had left, blood leaking out of them and coating Sheppard's torn uniform. The cuts were already healing, the Lord obviously wanted them to be in a good shape when he brought them to another planet for the hunt, because Sheppard didn't look aged or weak, only dazed and disorientated.

“Bring them to the labs for getting the transmitters, they will be excellent runners!” the Wraith snarled, smug satisfaction filling his voice. Ronon saw him turning around and leaving the hall before one of the drones grabbed his legs to drag him to the lab.

 

*~*~*~*

 

It felt so much worse than the first time John had experienced the feeding process. Todd had been starved and hungry when he had fed on him, back then, when they had been Kolya's prisoners, and the feeding had been horribly painful, but somehow, it hadn't been as agonizing as it felt right now.

The Lord didn't take his life in a steady flow like Todd had done it, he simply ripped it out of him in one huge gulp, and John thought he might die from the sheer unbearable pain alone if he didn't die from the lack of strength and energy in his cells. But, just when the world darkened around him, his life-force was shoved back into him with one single harsh and fast push, and the overwhelming ecstasy was as unbearable and agonizing as the pain had been.

John heard himself scream and howl, his body shaking and cramping in the Lord's merciless grip, and he had no time to recover before the space vampire fed on him again, repeating what he was doing to John again and again until John thought he would lose his mind and go insane from the horrible torture. The seconds stretched to minutes and the minutes to hours while John screamed his throat sore, wave after wave of freezing red pain shooting through his entire being just to be replaced by burning hot white ecstasy. John was deaf and blind to what happened around him, his world shrunken to the spot on his chest where the Wraith had dug his nails into his skin, his feeding organ carved into his sternum.

And then, it was suddenly over after one last shove of powerful life being forced back into his weak and trembling body, each cell of it screaming with the pain.

John fell down onto the pulsing floor and the blackness swallowing him was almost a mercy.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The light stung in his eyes when John came back to his senses again. The colonel blinked, a low groan escaping his dry and bitten lips and he flinched when a shadow suddenly bent over him, golden cat's eyes watching him with the professional curiosity of a scientist who had finally managed to get a sample of a rare species under his microscope.

John stared up into the Wraith's eyes that didn't look as hostile as the eyes of the Lord and his blades had looked at him. The male alien cocked his head to the side as he watched him, long silky white strands falling over his shoulder and into his face as he did so. He pushed them back with a practiced gesture and shifted his weight a little bit. John, whose eyes had gotten used to the for a Wraith chamber rather bright light could make out delicate and beautiful features, light green skin, a well-trimmed small goatee and a lithe body accentuated by the usual long coat of about his own size.

This Wraith obviously was a scientist and not a blade, even though John knew quite well that all Wraith normally were damn good fighters.

“You are strong, human. I never met any human who survived the Lord's way of feeding and giving back life.” were the unknown Wraith's first words when he was sure that John was able to listen to him, his gaze focused enough after the long moment of disorientation. His voice had the same multi-toned underlayer as all the other Wraith had when they spoke, but, his voice was quiet and without any hate or disgust, only curiosity and something akin to admiration resonating in his statement.

“I'm not sure whether or not I shall take that as a compliment,” John croaked out, his throat hardly able to form coherent words, and the scientist frowned slightly, turning to something behind his back. When he faced the human colonel again, he held a goblet in his hand. “It's only water,” he said when John mistrustfully narrowed his eyes. “It wouldn't make sense to poison you before making you a runner, human.”

John struggled into a sitting position. “My name is John,” he said, almost against his will when he took the goblet the Wraith handed him.

„Fine, John,“ the Wraith answer, watching attentively how John swallowed the water in small gulps to stop himself from retching, „we will prepare the insertion of the transmitter now. Do you know anything about the procedure of turning someone into a runner?“

John shrugged his shoulders, thoughtfully. „Only a little bit, to be honest. I'm a soldier and not a scientist, I only protect them,“ he continued, not knowing why he was telling the Wraith the truth after all that he had went through in the last hours, „we’re coming from the future and we have met runners before. My companion who is still trapped in your prison cell is a damn good scientist and he knows a lot about the Ancient technology, especially ZPMs. He examined your transmitters after we had removed one from a runner and he told me more about them, in case my team would meet one of them again. The thing will be placed in my back, right?“ He sipped another time from the water to steel himself for the small surgery. However, after the excruciating feeding of the Lord, he was sure that he would do nothing more than to blink during the treatment.

„You know more about ZPMs?“ the Wraith asked curiously, dampening his voice in the very next moment while he prepared a tablet with a syringe, a scalpel and the transmitter.

„Rodney does,“ John answered, suddenly seeing a chance that at least their scientist would be protected or even rescued. „By the way, where is he?“

„Still in the cell with the woman,“ the Wraith shrugged, continuing with the preparations. He didn’t say anything anymore but, John could sense that he pondered about something while he filled the syringe. “You and the big man with the dreadlocks will be runners, but, I don't think that my Lord will let your two other companions live.”

John could see that the slim scientist didn't agree to this, but that he wouldn't try to save two unimportant humans and threaten his own position with that. He had to find a way to make them important enough that the Lord would let them live. “You shouldn't kill them. You looked very interested when I mentioned the ZPMs. As I told you before, Rodney is a skilled scientist, a genius even, and he also carries the ATA-gene. He is more useful alive than dead for you,” he drawled, watching closely the alien's reaction. The Wraith didn't answer to that, but John could see that he was thinking about what he just had told the other male. “But, he won't cooperate if you'll kill Teyla,” he added, hoping that he had said enough to save them at least for the time being. Hopefully, Rodney would find a way to escape and Ronon and he himself a way to defeat the blades coming after them.

„Please, undress your shirt,“ the Wraith only said after a while, and John was astonished that he had used the word „please“. He followed the order, soon feeling a cold liquid upon his skin and then, the prick of the needle. He was grateful that the other one used an anestethics on him before he made a small cut, shoving the transmitter deep under his skin. John took a deep breath, putting on his shirt again.

He was a runner now.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The Wraith Lord finished with a satisfied grunt, his relentless thrusts shoving the groaning young blade against the slightly yielding wall of training arena, violently, before he pulled his softening cock out and closed the fastenings of his trousers again, not caring about the other male's satisfaction.

Feeding on this uncommon human had aroused him in a way no feeding had ever aroused him before, and the tall Wraith craved to experience it one more time, tasting the delicious strength of the cheeky human soldier who obviously didn't know his place and considered himself better than other humans, just because another Wraith had taken him in his bed as his personal worshiper. He would taste him again, when his blades were done with hunting him and his companion across several planets. He would give them the order to not kill the two soldiers, because he wanted to be the one finishing them when he had had enough of the slim man with the messy dark hair and the for a human surprisingly handsome features.

The young blade stumbled when the taller Wraith let go of him, trying to keep himself upright, knowing that his Lord wouldn't take it well if he didn't keep his composure. The older Wraith suppressed a disgusted snort. This one hadn't really been worthy enough, neither to fight with him, nor to satisfy his needs, but, he had been the first crossing his way and the Lord hadn't been in the mood to search for one of the older officers, too aroused from the feeding to wait any longer.

First, he had tired the young blade out with a training fight before he had shoved him against the wall and taken him, but his climax had been only a cheap copy of the ecstasy he had felt when he had ripped the life out of the impudent human, and he would have to take another one, older and worthier, for the night.

“Get out of my sight!” he snarled, not bothering to honor the younger one by talking to his mind, directly, and the young male pulled his clothing back into place and hurried to leave the arena and get away from his angry Lord.

The tall Wraith roared with sudden fury, taking one of his sticks to crack it into two halves, his claws clenching around the thick wood. The progress of building his own clone-factory had stopped, his scientist incapable of connecting the ZPMs they needed and the technology of the damn Ancients with their own technology. The opportunity to trap the young and inexperienced Queen would pass without him being able to use her for the clones he wanted to breed if his stupid scientists didn't find a way to link the technologies together and he roared again, tossing the broken stick down to the ground and damaging them with his boots until there were only short pieces left.

 _'My lord, I have something important to tell you!'_ his head scientist's voice suddenly sounded in his mind, the connection only superficial, because none of his underlings ever dared to connect with him on a deeper level without his explicit permission.

 _'What is it?'_ he snarled back, not in the mood to listen to irrelevancies.

 _'The two humans are ready to be brought to a planet where the blades can hunt them. But, the one you fed upon told me a few interesting things. The other male human still in the prison cell happens to be a scientist with great knowledge of the technology of the Ancients. Plus, he carries the gene and is able to activate those devices that can't be used without the ATA-gene. I am sure that he can be convinced to work with me, we could use the female to make him cooperate. This is the solution for our problems with the clone-factory, my lord,'_ the scientist informed him, and a smug sneer darkened the Wraith's gray features. He actually had wanted to feed on the other two humans they had trapped, but, if what his scientist had told him was true, then this solution would be even better.

 _'Then make sure that the human will cooperate, start right away when his two companions are on their way to the planet I chose for the start!'_ he ordered his head scientist, and the young Wraith with the extraordinary mental abilities sent him a short obedient answer before he drew back from the connection.

The Wraith Lord took another pair of sticks, this time made of steel. He reached out with his mental feelers for his training officer who had been busied with instructing the blades who would start with the hunt. When he had found him, he only sent one short order:

_'Come to the arena!'_

His officer replied, instantly. _'I'm on my way, my lord.'_

The tall Wraith with the tattoos that looked like Iratus bugs playfully whirled the metal sticks around as if they weighted nothing, his contented grin spreading out over his face. Today was really a good day. Plus, he had the feeling that the next days would become even better, the solution for the problems with the clone-factory eventually within reach.

Finally, his time to be the ruler of the Pegasus galaxy had come.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The scientist watched the two human runners disappear behind the next corner, flanked by six drones and guarded by the four blades who would start with the hunt, carrying the receiver that would record the signals of the transmitters he had implanted into the humans' backs. He was the youngest of the scientists and yet, he was their head, his intelligence and mental skills extraordinary even for his normally highly intelligent race.

He pushed his hair back over his shoulder as he started off towards the level where the prison cells where, admitting to himself that he was really curious to meet a human who should be almost as intelligent as a Wraith scientist. The soldier with the messy dark hair he had talked to – John – seemed to be very clever, too, even though he did his best to hide his cleverness from others, playing the dense soldier who only carried out orders and protected the clevermen of his race. The scientist hadn't believed him, but he had played along, something about John drawing him in in a strange way. It was almost a pity that he had had to make him a runner, but, he had had no other choice than to obey his Lord's orders. Scientists were needed but neither really trusted, nor respected in any way, and he had to be careful if he didn't want to end up in a prison cell himself or dead by being fed upon.

The young Wraith with the long, silvery hair turned around the corner, pulling himself out of his musings when he caught a first sight at the two humans sitting on the floor of the cell next to him, either of them deeply lost in their thoughts. The female looked up as she sensed his presence and the Wraith knew within an instant that she was special, because he could feel the soft touch of her mind for one tiny second before she shut her mind down to keep him out of it. He knew that he had to report this to his Lord, but, the human scientist came first. Other Wraith with less mental abilities probably wouldn't have noticed her attempt to read his thoughts, but, he had sensed her tries as soon as she had connected with his mind, and she had drawn back because of that.

For one moment, they looked each other in the eye, battling a silent battle as brown human eyes gazed into golden cat's eyes, and the young scientist found it surprisingly hard to keep the upper hand, but somehow, he managed to force her to drop her eyes first, probably because she was too exhausted, worried and confused to really fight him.

The Wraith suppressed a relieved sigh, knowing the the drones standing beside the cell were watching him, and he kept his face impassive as he stepped before the bars, ignoring the woman for now and focusing on the pale and tiredly looking man instead.

“You, human man, come to the bars,” he snarled, and the man slowly raised his head to look up at him with his blue eyes. For one moment, they measured each other, and then, the man stood up and came to the bars, his eyes never leaving his face.

„I heard that you are a scientist,“ the Wraith stated and it wasn’t a question, „we could use your knowledge, then, human.“ He watched his counterpart from head to toe, in a mixture between disgust and curiosity. However, the human didn’t reply, he looked at the Wraith defiantly which annoyed him to no end.

„Stop looking at me like that, human!“ the Wraith threatened. „If you won’t cooperate with us, your people will surely die. I know a lot of us who would love to feed on them, especially on the woman over there.“ He gazed over at Teyla, dangerously.

„How do I know that my people are still alive?“ the human asked, folding his arms before his chest and scowling at him. Fair enough he had a point there, the Wraith had to admit.

The tall creature snorted. „I will prove it to you,“ he answered. „So you don’t deny that you have knowledge about ZPM, even the ATA-gene?“ He had a hard time to keep his excitement at bay. They were so desperately in need of connecting at least one of the devices to their own technology, and maybe the human could help them to get it. He must be quite intelligent if he really had the knowledge he pretended to have.

The man John had called Rodney shook his head. „I will obey and work with you if you can prove to me that my two companions are still alive and you'll let them live, but to be able to work properly, you'll have to provide me and the woman with food. With _human_ food. See, I’m not talking about fruits, especially not about citrus fruits, you know that they are dangerous for us and…“

„Shut up!“ the Wraith interrupted him, his voice low. He was running out of patience with this annoying being. „You'll come with me but beforehand, you will prove to me that you really know how a ZPM works! Explain it to me and use as less words as possible!“ The Wraith stared at Rodney, expectantly, who didn’t hesitate for one second to provide the needed explanation. In fact, it took him only two sentences. The Wraith had never heard such a clever description before and for a tiny second, he felt something like awe.

“Very well, you really seem to be a scientist. If you'll behave, the woman will live for now. I will show you that your two other companions are alive, as well, in my lab. Now, come with me!” While he guided the human out of the room, leaving the woman behind, their gazes met. He could feel her mind touching his own again and this time, she didn't try to hide it. A human with telepathic abilities was as extraordinary as a human scientist was in his world and it excited him more than it probably should. _'We could really learn a lot from each other,'_ the Wraith mused, a strange feeling pooling in his guts.


	3. Unwilling Cooperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rodney shall work with the Wraith scientist, learning some interesting things and choosing a name for his counterpart while he gets something to eat, and Teyla is forced to cooperate and help trapping a young Wraith Queen for the clone-factory The Wraith Lord wants to build

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear dragonflower1, dear Dulinneth, we hope that you will enjoy the new chapter of this adventure, it will be all about Rodney and Teyla. The young Wraith scientist might remind you of Albert from the Pegasus Alliance, and this is not a coincidence, because Albert is such a unique Wraith. We also deicded to create another unique Wraith universe where some Wraith do have names and we chose an 'appropriate' name for the evil Wraith Lord.
> 
> Have fun reading this chapter and please, let us know how you liked it!

Rodney followed the Wraith through the misty and gloomy corridors, not wanting to leave Teyla behind, but of course, he didn't have any choice in that matter. At least, Teyla was well trained and knew better how to defend herself in close combat than he would ever be able to do. Plus, she had her mental abilities that might help her.

They met only few other Wraith on their way, a clear sign that whatever Queen or Commander had trapped them, he or she couldn't have too much power or too many Hives to cover his or her back, which might become an advantage for Rodney and his teammates when they would ever get the chance to escape. The blades crossing their way ignored them, two of them shooting the Wraith walking beside him scornful glances. It was obvious that they regarded themselves as better and worthier than the scientist, something Rodney knew quite well from some of the Marines in Atlantis who also took each and every scientist for weak and despicable.

The genius with the seven doctor grades felt sick with worries about John Sheppard and Ronon Dex, but he knew that he had to focus on what the damn Wraith walking beside him wanted him to do, it wouldn't help his two friends if he fought against the alien scientist and didn't agree to work on whatever he wanted him to. All Rodney could do at the moment was resigning himself to his fate and obey while trying to find a way to prolong his work to keep the Wraith from succeeding with their experiments.

The hissing sound of a door gliding to the side pulled him out of his thoughts, and he entered the room before the Wraith who watched him with this strange curiosity in his golden alien eyes. Rodney was used to working with Wraith ever since he had worked with Todd for the first time, and he really appreciated their intelligence and agile minds, a lot, but the Wraith he normally worked with where allies, and Rodney knew for sure that they would never try to feed on him. This Wraith, he didn't know, at all, and he also was actually a Wraith from the past who certainly considered human only as food.

He came to halt in the middle of a room that looked suspiciously like a lab, folding his arms before his chest in a how he hoped determined way. “I want a proof that my two friends are still alive!” he demanded, and the slim Wraith that must still be rather young eyed him thoughtfully before walking over to one of the consoles and typing something on the greenish screen.

When Rodney didn't move, he beckoned him to come to him with an impatient gesture. Rodney slowly made his way to the console where the Wraith stood, staring at the screen where he could see two blinking red spots moving. “Your friends were made runners, human. These are the signs of the transmitters. You can watch them while you're working with me. But don't let yourself be distracted by staring at the screen the entire time!” the Wraith said, and Rodney stared blindly at the two tiny red spots pulsing like the signs of a human heartbeat on a monitor beside a hospital bed.

“How shall I know that you're speaking the truth?” he inquired without averting his eyes from the screen. He could see from the corner of his eye how the alien scientist tilted his head to the side. “You can't know it, you have to believe my word, human,” the Wraith simply stated, his voice unmoved and not sounding angry or offended. “I have no reason to deceive you and you have no other choice than to work with me, because the human female will die if you don't.”

Rodney stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Her name is Teyla and my name is Dr. Rodney McKay. Stop calling me 'human' all of the time, Wraith!”

The head was cocked to the other side and there were sparks of something akin to amusement and hidden admiration because of Rodney's braveness dancing in the yellow-golden eyes. “You call me 'Wraith', Dr. Rodney McKay,” he remarked almost questioningly.

Rodney snorted. “That's because Wraith don't have names. And Dr. McKay or maybe even Rodney will do fine, even though I'm proud of my seven doctor grades.”

“What is a doctor grade?” the natural curiosity every scientist normally called their own broke free, the Wraith forgetting that they were supposed to start working. Rodney leaned against the side of the screen, making sure that he could see the red signals unhindered this way. “On the world where I come from, called Earth, a doctor grade is the grade you get after studying for years and proving that you are a specialist in the discipline you have studied.”

The tall alien with the long white hair frowned slightly, thinking about what Rodney had told him. “I see,” he finally said. “And you have studied seven disciplines, then?”

Rodney nodded. “One of them is astrophysics, but, there are others, too. Plus, I am an expert when it comes to the technology of the Ancients.” He couldn't help but point that out.

“I see,” the Wraith repeated. “And you have a doctor grade when it comes to the technology of the Ancients, as well?”

Rodney felt himself blushing. “Uhm, such a doctor grade doesn't exist so far. Maybe in a couple of years.”

“I see,” the Wraith said for the third time and Rodney had a hard time to not roll his eyes. This specimen of his race must own at least a little intelligence, otherwise he couldn't have become a scientist, but he sounded rather stupid at the moment, repeating himself all of the time.

There was a rather long silence, both of them watching the red signals crawling over the screen, but then, the Wraith suddenly said: “You're not right with the names, Dr. KcKay – Rodney. Some of us have a name. Our Queens have names and they oftentimes name their consorts and their Commanders, it is a great and rare honor to get one.”

Rodney stared at him totally taken by surprise. This was a small but important detail Todd had never shared with his allies. Rodney couldn't help but wonder whether he had ever told that to John, his mate or if his team-leader was still as clueless about that fact as he himself had been only seconds before this revelation. “I see,” he mumbled, blushing again because he sounded just as silly as the Wraith had sounded.

“And if there is no Queen?” he wanted to know. The Wraith cocked his head to the side again. “Sometimes, the Commander honors his second or his mate with a name, but that happens only now and then. Our Lord doesn't do that.”

Rodney pursed his lips. “So, you don't have a Queen, but a Commander who considers himself a Wraith Lord,” he mused. “Did your former Queen give him a name?”

The Wraith seemed to be uncertain, weighing in his mind whether or not to share this knowledge with his human counterpart. Rodney held his breath while he waited, trying not to look too eager.

Finally, the alien scientist seemed to come to terms with his inner struggles because he looked Rodney straight in his eyes and said: “Yes, my Lord does have a name. The name our former Queen gave him is Scarface.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

„Why did you name him ‚Scarface‘?“ Rodney asked although he already had a strong suspicion, the name almost speaking for itself. He imagined a powerful, impressive Wraith with huge scars all over his face, probably suffered in several serious battles and fights.

The picture he had in his mind became so vividly that he didn’t even wonder when the Wraith typed something into a console, an image of a huge Wraith appearing on a display. The alien had indeed a big scar across the right side of his face, splitting it into two halves. Rodney only had a vague idea of the way the Wraith had gained it, especially regarding their ability of healing very quickly, easily and without any scars when they were freshly fed.

The scar gave him a fierce impression that matched the grim and almost cruel look upon his ugly face. Rodney couldn’t help but shiver and all that he answered was: „I see.“ He gazed over to the Wraith who had shown him the image, not daring to ask how the Lord had gotten this wound. In fact, he didn’t want to talk about him, at all.

To his luck, a drone came with a plate of fruits and interrupted his dark thoughts. „That’s good, I already wanted to ask if I can get something to eat,“ Rodney muttered, his mouth watering when he saw the content of the bowl. He knew most of the fruits, sure that they wouldn’t endanger his health.

„I am aware that you were hungry, I can smell it,“ the Wraith answered, piercing him with his golden cat eyes. There was a strange expression in them and Rodney blinked away hastily, concentrating on the food.

„May I?“ he asked, grabbing the first fruit.

„That’s what they are for,“ the Wraith shrugged, watching how Rodney bit into the fruit with delight.

„I can’t work properly if I’m hungry,“ Rodney munched between two bites, „besides, I can also not work properly if I can’t address you with a name.“ He held his breath, not sure how the Wraith would react to this confession.

„A name?“ he asked but, it didn’t sound mocking or annoyed, the Wraith rather was …curious and confused. „I never had a name. No scientist would ever get a name, only officers and brave warriors.“

„Can I give you one?“ Rodney replied without thinking, the energy he was gaining from his meal making him brave.

The Wraith looked at him stunned, shaking his head in a mixture of disbelief and admiration. „You're more foolish than it will be good for you – Rodney, maybe stupid, surely impudent, but, I am willing to hear you out if giving me a human name will make it easier for you to work with me. Do you already have an idea?“ Now his curiosity was clearly audible in his voice, as well as something else Rodney couldn’t detect. Was it …pride?

„Yes,“ Rodney answered solemnly, „I would like to give you the name ‚Isaac‘.“

„Isaac!“ the Wraith exclaimed with a frown, „This name sounds strange but powerful. But, why 'Isaac'? Is it a common name among your race?“ Although he didn’t know the meaning behind the name, he seemed to be quite pleased with it. „Isaac,“ he tested it again on his tongue.

„Isaac Newton,“ Rodney started his explanation, „was - or better will be one of the most famous physicians of all times on my home planet. His research will have a huge impact in the future and he’s an absolute role model for all scientists.“ Suddenly he noticed what he had said - that he had given the Wraith a name that was a real honor, at least among humans and scientists.

The Wraith looked amazed by his explanation, but also pleased. „Thank you, Rodney,“ the tall creature said silently and for a few moments, none of them spoke anymore.

Rodney wanted to break the silence and so he asked what he needed to know anyway. „What happens when the red signals are off?“ He pointed at the device where the signs of the runner-transmitters were visible.

„That means that they are out of reach.“ The Wraith chewed upon his next words. „Or dead.“

Rodney shuddered and another silence followed between them. This time, it was the Wraith who broke it. „What about the woman, she has telepathic abilities, hasn’t she?“

For once, Rodney didn’t know what he should answer. Should he tell the truth? He looked at Isaac and a sudden glimmer in his eyes finally brought the decision. „Yes, she has,“ Rodney answered, „you are right.“

Isaac pushed his long white hair out of his face and Rodney felt drawn in by his delicate and beautiful features. Several years ago, when he had seen a Wraith for the very first time, he hadn't thought that he could ever find a Wraith anything else than ugly and disgusting, but over the years, he had gotten used to their strangeness and even come to see their fascinating alien beauty. Todd surely didn't look ugly to him any longer, and Rodney had to admit that this rather young Wraith was truly handsome and attractive. His long white hair cascaded over his back like a shimmering waterfall and his eyes were more golden than yellow.

“This might save her.” Isaac's musing words pulled him out of his disturbing thoughts. “I will talk to my Lord that she could be of use for what he wants to build and what we have to work on.” He gazed at Rodney and the expression in his eyes proved to Rodney that he was deadly serious about his next words. “You have to promise me that you will never call me by the name you gave me when any of my brethren is within earshot, Rodney. That would lead to the death of both of us. Never, understood?”

Rodney swallowed, but nodded his head. This Wraith seemed to be less hostile than the others and causing his death wouldn't be helpful. “I promise you, Isaac,” he said as serious as the Wraith had been. “But, what does your Lord wants to build? And why does he need Teyla's mental abilities for that?”

Isaac smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. “Teyla will have to control the young queen my Lord wants to trap with her abilities. No male Wraith is able to control a queen, even not the young ones, no matter how strong their own mental abilities might be. At least not long enough. But, another female with telepathic skills could do that.”

Rodney chewed on the last fruit. “I see. But, what does Scarface want to do with a young queen? Mate with her?”

Isaac snorted. “No, my Lord prefers male company. He needs her for the clone-factory he wants to build. My Lord wants to build his own army of drones so he can become the ruler of all Wraith and the entire Pegasus galaxy.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

Teyla had watched Rodney walking away with the young Wraith who had taken her by surprise when he had sensed her attempt to read his thoughts almost instantly. He must be very intelligent and skilled himself because she normally was able to hide her presence for at least a couple of seconds. He hadn't said anything, only looked at her with a curious and surprised expression, and the Athosian hoped that he would treat Rodney not too bad.

Teyla knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep, but pacing up and down in her cell wasn't an option, either, and so she had made herself comfortable on the pulsing floor of her cell as best as she could with her legs crossed, starting to mediate. It had been difficult at first, her worries about Sheppard, Ronon Dex and McKay distracting her, but finally, she had slipped into the special state of deep mediation and she startled out of it when the bars of her cell suddenly glided to the side with a dull sound.

“You, come with me!” The voice of the blade who had come to take John and Ronon away barked at her and Teyla rose to her feet, following the blade quietly. Objecting or trying to fight would only lead to punishment and she knew that she had to find out about her teammates' fate at first before she could only think of a way to escape. Two drones behind her back made sure that she wouldn't try to run away while the blade walked before her with fast steps, not bothering to turn his head and see whether she was able to keep up with his speed or fell behind. One of the drones pushed her forward with the barrel of its stunner when she didn't walk fast enough for their liking, and Teyla stumbled, but didn't utter the curse wanting to flee her lips.

Finally, they reached a large, empty hall and the Athosian knew immediately that this must be the throne hall, the lonely big chair in the middle of it proving the purpose of this hall to her unmistakably.

The throne was occupied and the drone shoved her in the direction of it pressing its weapon against her shoulder-blade until she dropped down on her knees, while the blade stepped to the side, lowering his head in a respectful manner. The Wraith who had interrogated Rodney before taking him away from her stood at the other side of the throne, his head lowered down to the ground as much as the blade had done to show his respect and submission.

Teyla had already known that there was no queen, but a male Wraith commanding this facility; but the sight of the tall and ugly creature towering over her pulled a shiver of disgust and fear from her, nevertheless. The horrible scar on the right side of his face and the bug-tattoos 'crawling' over his left cheek made his appearance look even uglier, and when she glanced up at him and in his cold yellow eyes, she knew instantly that this Wraith Lord would find it pleasurable to kill her and her friends the slow and most painful way, and that he probably only waited for a her giving him a reason to do so.

“I was told that you have telepathic abilities.” The Commander's voice was only an annoyed hiss, sounding as ugly as his whole appearance was, and Teyla tensed up, expecting to be executed right away. “Answer me, woman! Or your companion will suffer!” the Wraith yelled when she didn't speak, his yellow eyes glowing dangerously.

“Yes, I have,” the Athosian replied, keeping her tone quiet.

“Prove it to me. But don't you dare thinking one false thought.”

There was a screen hanging over the throne Teyla hadn't noticed before and it lit up now, showing Rodney in some kind of lab, the bare arm of a drone around his chest and a sharp blade pressed against his throat. The scientist's blue eyes showed mortal fear and Teyla swallowed down the bitter bile rising in her throat.

The female leader of the Athosians knew that she had no other chance than to obey, keeping her eyes on the horrible Wraith sitting on the throne as she reached out with her mental feelers, very carefully. She kept her mind blank, erasing any hostile thought with effort to let the male ruler feel only her presence in his head. She suppressed a groan when a strong wave of hate and disgust washed over her and she was forced to let the hostile mind invading her head and roaming around in her most private thoughts, but she didn't sway, focusing on her breathing instead. Time stretched to an eternity and then, the other presence was gone and she gasped out in pain.

“You are strong, woman! If you'll do what I'll tell you to do, then your three companions will live for a while longer,” the Wraith Lord snarled, contentedly. Teyla was sure that she would choke on her words, but she would do everything to save her friends and the drone still held the blade against Rodney's throat, a small cut filling with blood.

“Yes, my lord, I will do what you order me to do,” she said, her voice even and subdued as she bowed her head to hide the hate showing in her eyes.

“There is a young queen you have to bring under your control and to my facility. My blade will take you in the buffer of his Dart and when you're on board her cruiser, you'll have to make her let him fly the cruiser to my planet instead of the place where her new Hive is waiting for her, understood? My blade has a transmitter and if anything against my orders happens, your friends will die an agonizing death. Did I make myself clear enough for your stupid human mind, woman?”

Teyla nodded her head. “Understood, my lord.”

The Wraith laughed, a terrifying sound, and Teyla couldn't help but flinch while the blade and the young scientist stayed unmoved. One of the drones pulled her up on her feet very roughly, and when the Wraith leaned back in his throne, dismissing his underlings with a short wave of his claw-like hand, the blade bowed before him and turned around on his heels, leaving the hall with fast steps, his long coat swinging around his legs. Teyla was pulled after him and the last thing she saw was the screen with Rodney going dark again before the gloomy corridor leading to the Dart bay swallowed her.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The buffer released her with a bright light and Teyla stumbled, needing a few seconds to orientate herself. The Dart that had carried her landed a couple of meters beside her, the hatch opening to reveal the blade climbing out of his small vessel.

The Athosian looked around, just to find the Dart bay empty which surprised her a little bit. But maybe, the young Queen didn't have enough drones to control the entire cruiser and needed them on the bridge. The blade stepped to her, his yellow reptile eyes considering her with a mixture of loath, contempt and the natural respect each male Wraith felt towards strong females. When he raised his hand to open her jacket, Teyla flinched away.

The blade snorted, obviously enjoying her fear. “Stay still, woman,” he ordered her. “I dislike what I'll have to do as much as you, but I'll have to do it, nevertheless. You need all of your strength to control the queen and therefore, I'll have to give you some of mine. But, don't think that you'd be able to defeat me afterwards, my transmitter is linked to my life-signs. My Lord will know what you did the second they'll change.”

Teyla's eyes widened when she realized what the blade wanted to do and she groaned when his feeding organ stung her skin. Life floated into her body while he watched her, his sensor slits flaring by the smell of her instinctive arousal and excitement. “Humans, you are all so weak!” he growled, pulling his hand away again and looking at it as if he had eaten something foul and rotten.

He wiped it against his coat, jerking his head in the direction of the exit. “We'll have to go, they're waiting for their pilot to lead them to the planet where her Hive is waiting for its new queen. You won't speak, understood? You are her new personal worshiper, accompanying me only to serve her, and you're not allowed to speak in front of your Gods. I shot the Dart with the pilot that actually should have led them to the Hive and taken his place. All you have to do is to keep her under your control while I'll fly the cruiser to the planet where my Lord is waiting for us. Her underlings won't notice anything if you'll do it right. Just think of your companions.”

Teyla nodded her head and followed the blade out of the Dart bay, her body humming with strength and energy, but her heart and her mind heavy and dark with worries, disgust and fear.

 

*~*~*~*

 

“My Queen, we have come to serve you and guide you to your new Hive.”

The blade bowed before the young female Wraith standing on the bridge of the cruiser, flanked by two young warriors and with two drones covering her back. She was a real beauty with long and thick black curls surrounding her pretty, alien face and falling untamed over her back down to her slim waist. Her silvery dress was kept simple, enclosing her perfect figure like a second skin, the long skirt swinging around her long legs. The sleeves ended in the middle of her elegant hands and her fingers didn't remind of claws like so many other Wraith fingers Teyla had seen.

An aura of innocence and youth emanated from her and Teyla felt pity with the young queen as she knelt down before her, bowing her head like every good worshiper did in front of their Wraith Queen.

The newly made queen apparently wasn't sure how to behave, too inexperienced to show the arrogance of any other older queen Teyla had ever met, opening her mouth to thank the newcomer before remembering that she didn't need to do that. She only nodded her head, turning her attention back to the screen that showed their course, The blade stepped to the console where the queen's navigator stood, forcing him furtively to step aside, and Teyla knew that she had to bring her under her control as fast as possible.

To her luck, none of the other Wraith observed her, no proud Wraith bothered to pay attention to an unworthy worshiper in the times she and her team was trapped in as it seemed and Teyla was deeply grateful for that.

She stayed where she was, knelt on the floor with her head lowered in a respectful bow even though she could feel the furtive curious glances of the young Wraith upon her crouched figure.

The female leader of her own folk took a deep breath and invaded the young queen's mind, forcefully, knowing that she had only one attempt to do so before one of her underlings would notice that something was very wrong with their new ruler.

_'Don't fight me or I will kill you with my thoughts!'_

Teyla didn't know if she could really do that, but her threat had the desired effect, the young Wraith not daring to react to her painful intrusion. The few seconds before the Queen did start to fight was all she needed to take over her mind and her body, the slim frame relaxing as the female Wraith stepped back from the console she had been about to approach and look what her new pilot was doing, walking to the throne-like chair in the middle of the bridge and sitting down on it against her will.

The blade didn't look up from the console where he had fixed the new course, but Teyla could feel his mind touching her own to help her staying in control of the queen. It also gave him the opportunity to control her, of course, and Teyla didn't try to fight against him.

_'Who are you? Get out of my head!'_ the young queen snarled at her and Teyla suppressed a groan of pain. The Wraith was strong and fought against her in earnest now, the Athosian's experience and own strength the only thing helping her to keep up the pressure on the mind she had to oppress.

_'Stop fighting or the pilot will bring your ship to explosion!'_ she threatened, _'Nothing will happen to you and your crew if you obey and do what I'll tell you to do!'_

The female Wraith squirmed in her seat when Teyla almost lost the control for one moment, but before one of her underlings noticed the mental fight between the two females, she tightened her telepathic grasp again and the squirming stopped. _'Your crew will die in case you'll do that again!'_

_'You would die with me.'_ The queen stared at the large screen at the wall, and Teyla could see the course changing as the cruiser flew a huge curve to take the direction of the Lord's planet instead of the hiding place of the Hive waiting for its new queen.

_'I'm willing to risk that. Stop fighting and you will live.'_

_'Why would you risk that?'_

_'Because I will die anyway if you don't do as I'll tell you. Obey my orders and I will leave your mind undamaged. Continue to fight and argue and you'll regret it.'_

There was a long silence before the queen's mind voice spoke up again. _'I will obey for now. But, this fight isn't over, human.'_

Teyla didn't respond to that, concentrating on keeping her quiet in her throne, and the cruiser changed its course, undisturbed, disappearing into the hyperspace in a sensation of bright light.


	4. Runners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Sheppard and Ronon Dex have been made runners by the Wraith Lord Scarface. Now, they have to find their way back to the Stargate on an unknown planet, fighting against the Lord's Wraith hunting them. John is still struggling with the aftermath of Scarface's feeding, but, he recovers astonishingly quickly and the reason for his quick recovery is both, surprising and frightening...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers, we want to put a warning before this chapter: it contains description of violence due to John's and Ronon's fights against their hunters and also some blood and minor character deaths of the hunters. If you're not comfortable with such content, please don't read this chapter. 
> 
> Dear dragonflower1, dear Dulinneth, you both like bug!John and in this chapter, John's transformation starts. John and Ronon have to make their way back to the gate and his metamorphosis helps John and Ronon to fight against their hunters. In the next chapter, John will meet his mate again, only in another way than he might have wished for. We hope that you will enjoy this chapter and follow John's story along until the end.

The Dart materialized in the event horizon, leaving the blue waves behind as it spiraled itself into the grayish sky of the unknown planet like an arrow shot from a bow, the loud noise it made reminding of a swarm of angry hornets as the small vessel flew over the trees, breaking the peaceful silence.

It didn't take long until the Dart had reached its goal, a small clearing about twenty or thirty, maybe even forty miles away from the Stargate. The light beam of the transporter released two figures from the Dart's buffer before the arrow-like ship turned around in a wide circle to fly back to the gate, slowing down over the clearing for one moment. When the pilot saw the two humans stumbling their way to the edge of the meadow, he let out a contented hiss and sped up again, heading back in the direction of the gate. It wasn't him to hunt the newly made runners even though he almost regretted that. Yet, the hunters were already on their way to this place, following the Dart on their own two feet to hunt the human runners like Wraith had done so for the last centuries.

Their Lord had given the clear order that the runners were not to kill and the hunters would have to be very careful to let the humans live. The pilot knew how hard this would be when the instincts overtook his brethren and the excitement of the hunt threatened to blot out all reason. He envied them a little bit that he wasn't one of them, but, his time to hunt the two humans would come and he had the patience of an immortal being, another hiss fleeing his lips as the gate came in sight again and the Dart entered the wormhole now opened in the opposite direction by the hunters that had followed him onto this planet. He sent a short mental greeting before leaving the planet and the blue waves of the event horizon vanished with a silent “woooosh”, leaving two human runners and six Wraith hunters on a former uninhabited and peaceful, and now dangerous and not so peaceful any longer planet behind.

 

*~*~*~*

 

John blinked against the rather bright daylight and groaned as every single bone in his tortured body protested against the sudden re-materialization.

“Is everything okay with you, Sheppard?” Ronon Dex beside him asked, the tall Satedan obviously much less affected by the current happenings than he himself was.

“Yeah, I just need a moment,” the hazel-eyed colonel answered, shadowing his eyes as he looked up at the gray sky where the Dart that had released them paused over the clearing for a few seconds before speeding up again and disappearing in the direction of the gate. John watched it until it was out of sight to see in which direction they had to go to reach the Stargate.

Ronon had followed his example and John was glad that his friend and teammate had seven years of experience as a runner, his knowledge and instincts would surely be needed during the next days.

The younger man with the long dreadlocks pulled a knife out of his boot and made his way to the edge of the clearing, picking up two large and thick branches lying on the ground.

“The Wraith will come through the gate on their feet and come towards us. They will most likely expect us to approach the gate in a wide circle, so we should take the direct way. Wraith are fast, but even they will need some time to get here, and we should stay here for a while, trying to get some rest and something to eat, Sheppard. You look as if you needed some rest, so I will stay awake and make two weapons out of these branches,” Ronon said, and John nodded in agreement. The Satedan knew much more about the life of being a runner, and John had learned to listen to his subordinates and teammates if they knew something he didn't instead of acting as the boss and endanger them with that. Instead, he searched for a place under one of the trees and laid down, closing his eyes after watching Ronon cutting the branches with his knife for a few seconds. His body was still aching, but he was trained to fall asleep under worse circumstances and after a couple of minutes, his breathing slowed down and got even when the slumber of exhaustion captured him.

It seemed as if only a couple of minutes had passed when he woke up again, but it must have been two hours, at least, judging by the now darker daylight. John listened inwardly for one moment, content when he didn't feel any pain anymore. Either the sleep had refreshed him or the Wraith Lord had given him enough of his life back to make him recover rather quickly. He felt surprisingly strong and full of energy even, ready to fight against the Wraith hunting them and make his way back to Rodney and Teyla at all cost.

“You look much better, Sheppard,” Ronon's voice sounded next to him when the Satedan saw that he was awake and John sat up with a nod. “I feel much better, thank you.” Ronon Dex handed him one of the sticks he had made during his sleep. The skilled Runner had cut both ends to tips and the branches now were sharp enough to be used as spears and hunt animals with them or injure Wraith attacking them. John took it, glad that he had trained with Todd and Teyla on a regular basis during the last year.

Todd.

The thought of his Wraith mate made him swallow. They might have been enemies when they first had met, back then in Koyla's prison, become unwilling allies after their escape for a rather long time, but now, they were true mates and John had learned enough about Wraith and their culture to know that these amazing beings didn't mate easily, and that they protected and defended their mates with their own lives unquestioningly. Todd must be halfway out of his mind with worries about his human mate's disappearance, frantically trying to find a way to save him and for one moment, John's throat went tight with the feeling of being lost and missing Todd that badly that it hurt him physically.

John blinked and cleared his throat with a determined sound, willing his thoughts back to the here and now. Ronon had watched him, silently, and when their eyes met, the tall man smiled at him. “He will search for us, Sheppard,” he said, almost gently, and John managed a small crooked grin and nodded his head.

“Yes, Ronon, I know.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

Ronon took the roots he had collected, remembering them from his first time as a runner. They were eatable without them having to make a fire to fry them, and they would provide Sheppard and him with the needed strength and nutrients. The roots weren't really tasty, but Ronon knew better than to risk a fire the Wraith could smell over a large distance.

“They are not tasty, but they will sate you and provide you with nutrients. We don't know this planet and we can't risk making a fire. We have to be careful with the water they provided us with until we have found a creek, but the roots will do for the moment,” he said and Sheppard took the bulbous roots and started to eat one of them without any complaint. Ronon was grateful that the hazel-eyed colonel didn't argue with him like McKay would surely have done, he was a soldier through and through and made the best out of the situation without dwelling in self-pity or musing about things he couldn't change at this point.

“It's good to have you here with me, Ronon,” his team-leader said when he had eaten two of the roots. “I might be a soldier and I've spent some time alone in the desert and managed to survive somehow, but I have never been a runner and I also don't know the fauna and flora well enough to know what's eatable and what would be poisonous.”

The Satedan shrugged. “We didn't travel that much into the past to change the fauna and flora to a point that I wouldn't recognize roots or fruits that are eatable anymore. These roots grow on a lot of planets in the Pegasus galaxy and they will do for a rather long time. I will rest for one hour and then, we should leave this clearing. Wraith have a good night vision, but it will be safer for us to walk during the dark hours instead of staying at one place for too long. We will take shorter breaks more oftentimes instead of a few longer ones.”

Sheppard's hazel-green eyes had a strange yellow-golden shimmer when he lifted his head up to look at him. Ronon had been surprised how quickly the colonel had recovered from the feeding, his body seemed to vibrate with energy and his gaze was sharp and clear instead of disorientated and pained. “I would have suggested the same, Ronon. Just go to sleep, I will watch.” Even the colonel's voice sounded different and Ronon had a strange feeling all of a sudden. The feeling that something had happened to his team-leader when the Wraith Lord had fed on him just to shove his life back into Sheppard's tortured body, repeating this until every other human would have lain on the floor, dead or at least insane because of the unbearable pain.

The man from the planet Sateda only didn't know what it was that had happened to him. He had the strong suspicion that he would find it out very soon though and when he closed his eyes, it took him a while to fall asleep, the bad feeling in his guts refusing to go away.

 

*~*~*~*

 

They had left the clearing when Ronon had woken up again, silently entering the thick forest in the direction where the Dart had flown, trudging through the grass and scrambling over roots, fallen trees and branches. The sun had sunk under the horizon at least three hours ago, John couldn't tell that for sure because the Wraith scientist had taken his watch, but judging by the darkness that had fallen over the planet, three or four hours must have passed since sunset.

John was surprised that he still could see much better than he would have expected it, and he looked up at the black sky again to look for the moon or the stars that must light up the night to make him capable of seeing his surroundings that clearly.

The nightly sky was as black as a sky could only be during the night. No moon, no stars visible through the thick dark clouds hanging deep. John frowned, and when Ronon walking in front of him stumbled over a root he hadn't seen, John frowned even more. What was it making him see that much in the darkness? He also didn't feel as tired and exhausted or thirsty as he had expected to feel after the happenings and their long walk, he was wide awake and the silent noises of cracking wood, rustling leave and some small animals crawling over the ground sounded much louder than they normally should have been audible for him.

When Ronon stumbled again, he tugged at his arm. “Let me take the lead, Ronon. I can see clearly enough,” he whispered as quietly as possible and the Satedan stopped to turn around to him. John was surprised when the tall man flinched away from him.

“Ronon, what's wrong? It's me, John!” he hissed through gritted teeth, but the tall man took another step back.

“Your eyes, Sheppard!” the Satedan gave back, and John flinched because of the loudness of his words. “Damn it, Ronon, be quiet. What's wrong with my eyes?”

Ronon Dex swallowed, unconsciously raising his stick in a gesture of defense. “Your eyes are golden and they are glowing. You have the eyes of a Wraith, Sheppard.”

John listened to Ronon's words and he now realized what happened to him. The retro-virus had started to transform him again. He was about to become Wraith-like for the second time in his life.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Ronon stared at the colonel, right into his yellow-golden reptile-like eyes and now he knew what had happened to his team-leader. Whatever it was that had started the process, Ronon would probably never know for sure, but John Sheppard was turning into this bug-like creature again and the Satedan didn't know what to make out of it and if he should be scared to death by it or grateful.

He eyed his counterpart carefully, not knowing if he should reveal what he was seeing to John. If he had mixed feelings about his transformation, how would John himself react? His skin had already a subtle bluish undertone, marbled and shimmering. His human look hadn’t changed that much but, his skin seemed to be thicker and more resistant than before, his fingernails longer than usual. Ronon let his gaze wander over John’s face, down to his throat that also had changed. It was not so slim like before and the slight blue color was clearly visible there.

All in all, the physical change was more than evident, and the Satedan mused how the transformation would influence John’s psych. He remembered the last time John had turned into a bug, driven mostly by his instincts and he shivered. Should he really let him take the lead or would he be the death for all of them? How should he know if John was still reasonable enough to make thorough decisions? Decisions of a human, not of an animal?

„I know that I am changing, Ronon,“ John answered all of a sudden while the Satedan still dwelt in his thoughts, not able to avert his gaze from his counterpart. John sounded surprisingly firm and Ronon listened to him with attention. „I can feel it, I can feel my transformation. Yes, it scares me, but I’m still the same, I can only hear, see and smell better. It's different from the last time. My senses are sharper and I have more strength, but my mind is clear and I don't feel driven by any instincts – except for the urge to save Rodney and Teyla and find a way back to our own reality. The last time I changed, my mind was clouded rather quickly and I lost control over my thoughts right from the start. This time, I don't feel any different, at all – except for the physical change. Please, Ronon, you have to believe me!“ John sounded so urgently - and somehow desperate - that Ronon nodded.

„I believe you, John. I really do, but, we don't know if the transformation is complete. What if your mental state will change? I can't do this without you,“ Ronon admitted and John smiled at him. “I know, Ronon. You don't have to do this alone. I will fight at your side and protect you. Please, trust me.”

Ronon hesitated, but then, he nodded. “I guess that I have to trust you, Sheppard. Alright, take the lead, I'll follow you.”

The human colonel who wasn't so human any longer turned around and made his way through the wilderness with firm steps, and Ronon grabbed his brunch tighter and followed him into the darkness of the thick forest.

 

*~*~*~*

 

They had walked for maybe five more miles when John heard a silent sound coming from somewhere in front of them. It was only for a short moment, just as if someone had stepped onto a thin twig that had cracked under a boot. John knew that he wouldn't have heard it without his increased senses, and he was almost grateful for his transformation. One of their hunters must have neared them and John stopped, lifting his had up in a warning gesture. The Satedan stopped behind him, his breaths tickling at John's neck. The colonel cautiously sniffed the air, and he could actually smell the Wraith who was approaching them, probably about hundred meters away from them.

John listened for one more moment, but the sound didn't repeat itself. The Wraith must be able to smell them, too, at this point, and the tiny hairs on John's arms stood up. His uniform felt uncomfortably tight, because his muscles had thickened and he felt trapped in his clothing but knew that he couldn't do anything about it right now. John pointed at the thick tree at his right side and Ronon slipped behind it, raising his stick while John did the same, stepping behind the tree at his left side.

The Wraith hunters didn't know about his transformation and John wanted to use this to their advantage. The most important thing was to escape from this planet to make the hunters lose their track for some time and search for help. This would be difficult because the people living in this time certainly would fear the Lord's revenge, but maybe, they would find someone who was willing to help them, at least with more information.

The sound of rustling leaves broke in on his musings and John tensed up, his fingers closing around his stick. The tall and slim Wraith suddenly appearing out of the blue from behind a bush made him bare his teeth and John forced himself to wait until the Wraith was close enough for an attack. Just when the creature had reached his tree, John jumped forward from behind it, lifting his spear over his head and slamming it down right into the throat of his adversary with all of his strength, his increased night vision helping him with targeting his goal. The stick Ronon had cut into a sharp tip at both ends penetrated the Wraith's vulnerable neck with an ugly, squishing sound and the male alien gargled, his hands coming up to the spot where the stick had ripped his carotid open. He stayed on his feet for one or two seconds, his face showing a surprised and disbelieving expression before he fell down to the ground like in slow motion, his dark blood coating the dead leaves.

John used one foot to hold him down as he pulled his stick out of the horrible wound, watching the Wraith bleeding out and his eyes break before he bent down to take his weapon. When he turned around to Ronon, he saw the Satedan staring at him with big eyes. John handed him the weapon.

“I'll take the sticks, Ronon. This one was easy to defeat because he didn't know that I have changed. The others will be more careful, now knowing that he is dead. He has sent them a mental warning before he died.”

Ronon let him take the stick without arguing, pulling the gun close to his chest. “Do you think that he has had enough time to warn them?” he asked.

John smiled grimly. “I know that he did. I could feel it in my head. I can't read their thoughts, but I am able to feel their presence in my mind for the last couple of minutes. Unfortunately, they can feel me, too, so we have to be careful. The transmitter only tells them where we are, but the mental connection tells them how we are. I'll have to find a way to block them out. At least, I'll know where they are this way a rather long time before I can smell or hear them, too, so this might be a good thing, after all.”

Ronon looked partly frightened, partly bewildered. “Can you feel me in your head, too?” he murmured, the thought of his team-leader roaming around in his thoughts obviously not a pleasant one.

John shook his head. “Nope. You're not Wraith and the Satedan's didn't have telepathic skills. We should separate for a while. Not too far, but, they left one at the gate as far as I can tell and they will surely separate to get us, as well. Do you think that you'll be able to defeat two Wraith, Ronon Dex?”

The tall man shot him an offended look. “You bet I'll do, Sheppard,” he growled.

John smirked, but his eyes stayed grim. “I thought so. The gate is about eight or ten miles in front of us, we'll meet there.” He pointed in the direction where he could feel the Wraith who had stayed behind to secure the gate, and the Satedan nodded and disappeared into the forest, swallowed easily by the dark-gray light of the breaking day. John waited until he couldn't see him any longer before he made his way in the other direction, approaching the gate in a circle. He bared his teeth when he felt the Wraith hesitate and then, splitting into two parties, two of them heading towards Ronon and the other two his way.

John grabbed his sticks and started to jog.

 

*~*~*~*

 

Ronon silently lifted the Wraith stunner when he felt the hunters coming closer. He couldn't sense them in his head, but the years he had spent a s a runner had sharpened his 'Wraith-radar' in a way that he could almost taste them on his tongue. The tall man made his way over to several thick bushes that would hide him from the Wraith as long as possible, gliding over the dead leaves and roots as he did so without making any sound. The gray light of the dawn had replaced the blackness and Ronon was grateful for that because he now could see almost as much as Sheppard and the Wraith.

The inhabitant of the Pegasus galaxy had learned at the beginning of his first years as a runner that there was no point in seeking close combat with a Wraith when one had a weapon to shoot them from the distance. It might be 'braver', but, it was also foolish because the risk of getting injured was far too high. Runners could never stay at one place for too long and they needed their strength to survive instead of tiring themselves out in needless fights. If it had been only him, he perhaps might have seen things in a different light but, Rodney and Teyla needed them, and Ronon was determined to survive and come back to them to save them.

The Satedan lifted his weapon as a shadow rushed from one tree to the next one, knowing that he had only one shot before he needed to find another cover. The shadow became visible again and Ronon pulled the trigger, hoping that the load would be enough to kill the Wraith or at least knock him out long enough until he had shot the second one and use his knife to make sure that they wouldn't come after them. They couldn't risk to let the Wraith live and tell their Lord that Sheppard had transformed partly into a Wraith himself.

The figure fell down to the ground and Ronon jumped away from the bush and spun around as he felt the hairs on his back stand up. The second Wraith had almost approached him, his own weapon pointing at him, and Ronon pulled the trigger again and again without thinking. The white-haired creature roared as it hit the ground and Ronon pulled his knife out of his boot to finish his enemy.

When he was sure that this Wraith would never feed on any human again, he ran over to the first one he had shot, arriving just in time to see the young male stir.

Ronon swallowed as he looked down at the Wraith who most likely had been hunting for the first time. The survivor of the massacre another Wraith Lord had caused among his own people had never thought that one day, he could regard Wraith as anything else than cruel slaughters that deserved to be erased from each world in the entire galaxy, but John Sheppard and the alliance the colonel had formed with Todd had changed that, slowly and not without obstacles and fights, but now, there were actually Wraith Ronon didn't consider as enemies any longer. This one surely was his enemy and Ronon couldn't let him live, but the Wraith looked so young and inexperienced, and Ronon suspected that he wasn't one of the real bad guys.

The tall man raised his knife, but in this moment, the Wraith opened his yellow-golden eyes, staring up at him, the hate, arrogance and contempt each Wraith of this time-line felt towards human replaced by the mortal fear each living being felt at death's door.

Ronon stared down at his adversary, taking a deep breath. Then, he took the stunner, switching it from killing into the stunning-mode, and then, pulled the trigger.

 

*~*~*~*

 

The noises of a fight showed Ronon the way to Sheppard.

He had taken all weapons from both Wraith and was heading in the colonel's direction now, hoping that he wouldn't come too late. Sheppard had only the two sticks and the Wraith had weapons they could shoot him from the distance with.

When he reached the small clearing near the gate, he could see Sheppard fighting against three Wraith at once, and this uncommon and unexpected sight made him pause with astonishment for one moment. The colonel must have been very fast and clever to reach the gate in time with the two Wraith following him, and his metamorphosis must have challenged their hunters to fight against him instead of using their weapons.

Sheppard was whirling over the meadow with his sticks much faster than any human Ronon had ever seen except for Teyla Emagan, and he used his sticks with great skills. His reflexes had increased as much as his senses and his adversaries had a hard time to come closer to him. Ronon watched the fight for a couple of seconds, unable to move, but when one of the tree Wraith tried to target Sheppard with his stunner, the Satedan raised his own one and shot him. The hunter fell down with an angry hiss, trying to get up again. He was obviously freshly fed and the runner pulled the trigger until the alien male didn't move anymore.

Sheppard in the meantime had managed to slam one of his sticks into the chest of the smaller of the two remaining Wraith, and Ronon shot the other one until he was sure that he wouldn't get up again.

The Satedan ran to the dialing console of the Stargate while Sheppard took the weapons from the Wraith. Ronon started to dial, instinctively using the address of one of the planets he knew from his time as a runner. The people living there had always been friendly and willing to provide him with what he needed. They even had let him stay for one night now and then, risking a lot with that, and Ronon had accepted their offer only once or twice. Maybe, the ancestors of those friendly people would behave the same way and at least provide him and his companion with some supplies, even though Ronon feared that Sheppard's transformation might scare them and cause them to attack the two runners.

Sheppard approached him just when the wormhole established and they ran up the four stairs and jumped through the blue waves without looking back.

The wormhole swallowed them just to spit them out at the other side and on another green world of the many worlds in the Pegasus galaxy again.

Ronon blinked as he stumbled forward because of the speed he had jumped through the gate with and Sheppard followed him with a suppressed curse.

He looked around, freezing in place when he saw two weapons pointing at them. The human guards who had watched the gate at the other side raised their guns and one of them yelled:

“Stop! Don't move or we'll shoot you.” Ronon stayed completely still, staring at the man who had spoken while Sheppard let out an annoyed hiss, lifting his head up.

The other man, still very young and with thick blond curls, blinked, his finger twitching around the trigger of his gun while he took in the sight of Sheppard's changed appearance, but just when Ronon thought that he would shoot the colonel, the other guard, older and with black hair, pushed against the younger one's arm, causing him to drop the stunner.

“Don't shoot him! He has the eyes of the Gods!”


	5. Dark Violet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ronon could escape from the planet and stumbled right before the weapons of the worshipers of another Wraith clan. Will their Queen hear John and Ronon out and maybe even be willing to help them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear dragonflower1, dear Dulinneth, we hope that you have fun with this story, you will meet the Queen we created for this story for the first time in this chapter. The names we chose for the worshipers of her colony are ancient Teuton names (yes, we couldn't help but add a little Germany to this story), and there will be a surprise at the end of the chapter, too. :-)
> 
> Dear readers, enjoy the new chapter and please, share your thoughts with us, your feedback is important to us!

John and Ronon stumbled along the path to the rather large settlement, the weapon of the younger guard accompanying them pointing at their backs. The older man had decided that it would be safer if he stayed near the Stargate alone while the younger man was supposed to bring the unknown runners to the mayor of their village, leaving it up to him what to do with them. Ronon could only hope that the finger of the blond guard wouldn't be too nervous and pull the trigger by accident, because his weapon still was in the killing mode and Ronon could almost taste his anxiety and hostility on his tongue.

Sheppard walked beside him, his face stern and impassive, and the Satedan found himself looking at him now and then, taking in the uncommon sight of John's changed appearance. Sheppard didn't look as transformed as he had looked back then when the virus had transformed him for the first time, his skin only slightly marbled and of a lighter blue, his hazel eyes shimmering more golden than yellow, but the ridges and on his neck were not human and his body was broader, his jacket stretching dangerously over his shoulders. The expression of his eyes was sharp and clear and Ronon could see that he still had his common sense and his intelligence.

This was relieving and frightening at the same time because the tall man with the dreadlocks wasn't sure how much the colonel's psych might change during the process and most of all, whether the transformation was already completed or if his teamleader would change more into a bug-like or Wraith-like creature. There was nothing he could do about that though, and Ronon forced his attention back on his surroundings again.

They had reached the edge of the village and some settlers crossed their way, shooting curious glances in their direction. They didn't stop or try to speak to them, only turning their heads while they headed along their way and to his surprise, there was only little hostility or fear in their glances. This confirmed what Ronon and certainly Sheppard, as well, had suspected, namely that this settlement was a worshiper colony and probably under the protection of a strong Wraith clan or an alliance of two or three clans.

Their guard shoved the barrel of his weapon into his back to make him turn to the left side and Ronon let out an annoyed growl. John shot him a warning look, the older guard had made clear that they were not supposed to speak until the mayor was informed about their arrival, and the Satedan pressed his lips to a thin line. The next shove stopped him before a rather large house, and the young man knocked several times with his knuckles, his eyes flickering forth and back between Sheppard and him.

Footsteps were to be heard after a while and then, the door swung open, revealing an older man with white hair who held his shoulders straight and his head high despite his age. His clothes were simple, brown trousers and a dark-green tunic with long sleeves, both falling loosely enough to be comfortable.

“Swidbert! What happened? Why did you leave your place beside the gate?” the older man asked, his voice calm, but strict. “Times are uncertain and you know how important it is to secure our Stargate when our Queen is not here to protect us.”

The young man called Swidbert bowed before the older man. “I know that, Mayor Godwin, and I will return to my post as soon as possible. These two men came through our gate and Aswin ordered me to bring them to you so they can be dealt with. The smaller one has the eyes and the appearance of our Gods!”

The mayor narrowed his eyes, turning his head to consider Sheppard more closely. Then, he nodded. “I see. Aswin was right. Before you'll return to your post, you shall search for Ekwin, Gerwin and Hoimar and send them to me. Plus, you'll have to make sure that there will be at least six guards watching the gate all day and night long! We have to be very careful now because someone will come after them, that's for sure.”

Swidbert nodded his head, obviously more than happy that he wasn't the one who had to deal with the two strangers any longer. “Of course, Mayor Godwin, I shall hurry!” he said, turning around on his heels and disappearing around the corner with fast steps. Ronon watched him leave until he was out of sight before looking at the older man again who didn't seem to worry about being alone with two strangers, one of them looking partly like a Wraith.

Godwin considered Sheppard and him with a musing expression before he beckoned them into his house. “Please, come in, strangers, I'm sure your story will be interesting.”

 

*~*~*~*

 

John didn't know what kind of reaction he had expected coming from the people living in this settlement, but the reaction of the mayor surprised him more than only a little bit. He had expected fear, hate, loathe and hostility despite what Ronon had told him about the friendliness of descendants of this folk. His teammate had made his experiences centuries, maybe thousands of years later, and the timeline they had stumbled into was very different, the Wraith numerous, strong and powerful after defeating the Ancients not that long ago. And his own looks certainly weren't made to gather new friends around him.

He followed the white-haired man into the house, taking the seat he was offered. The mayor waited until Ronon had done the same, crossing the room to walk to a small console nestled in the corner opposite the table where they sat. John recognized it as Wraith technology and this confirmed his suspicion that this settlement was a colony of Wraith worshipers. Ronon beside him made a move as if he wanted to stand up, but John's hand on his shoulder pressed him down again.

“He's calling the Wraith!” the Satedan growled and John let out an annoyed hiss. “Yes, Mayor Godwin calls the Wraith. If I remember correctly, he spoke about a Queen protecting them, so it can't be the Wraith Lord who trapped us. We need allies here to go back where we belong and considering the circumstances, we won't be able to go back without the help of another Wraith clan.”

The mayor turned to John, gifting him with a brief smile. “You're guessing right, stranger, our Queen is not friends with the Wraith Lord you mentioned, quite the opposite. You have to understand that I had to call her. You put our settlement into danger when you came here, the Lord will search for you, there is no doubt about that. We need her protection when he sends his warriors and his drones. Plus, she is the one to decide what will happen to you. No one will attack you here, we value hospitality very highly, but I cannot allow you to leave again, because the Lord will try to come here and take revenge even if you're gone, nevertheless.”

John smiled back at the mayor. “We respect your decision and we won't try to escape from here. We are desperate, our two companions still imprisoned by the Lord and we need help. I only hope that your Queen will listen to us.”

Godwin frowned. “Of course, she will listen. Our Queen is not only beautiful and powerful, but also abundant in wisdom and grace, and she will listen to your words, carefully, before deciding if you spoke the truth.”

Ronon growled again. “She must be an extraordinary Queen, then. I never met any Queen being like you described yours!” he snarled and John laid his hand upon his arm again. “It won't be helpful if you insult their Goddess before you've even met her!” he snapped, smiling at the older man watching them closely again. “My friend Ronon has made some very bad experiences with Wraith. Please, don't take his words personally.”

Godwin had finished his task and came back to the table. “I won't, don't worry. I only trust my Queen and her clan, our ancestors suffered a lot because of other Wraith before she came to claim us as her protected worshipers.” His eyes traveled over John's face and John tensed up, readying himself for the inevitable questions that would come now, but the mayor surprised him by only stating: “You must be hungry and thirsty. I shall to getting some food for you. After that, you can tell me your story. Ekwin, Hoimar and Gerwin should be here any time soon, and I want them to listen to you, as well.” He took a small bell that had been placed onto the table and rang it. They waited in silence until a young woman appeared in the doorway, her pretty face giving her kinship with Godwin away.

“You called, father?” she asked, her voice soft and her face impassive, but John could see her looking at him from underneath her thick eyelashes. “Yes, Godelind. Please, bring us a light meal and something to drink, water would be the best choice. We have guests and they are hungry. Plus, Ekwin, Hoimar and Gerwin will arrive, soon, please, let them in.”

Godelind nodded, now eyeing Ronon. “Of course, father.” The door closed behind her again and John leaned back in his chair, allowing some of the almost unbearable tension to leave his body. He couldn't read Godwin's thoughts, but his sense of smell had increased together with his other senses and there was no threat emanating from the surprisingly kind man, only a slight worry and curiosity, together with the faith he had in his Wraith Queen to come in time and protect his people when the Wraith Lord sent his warriors after Ronon and him.

Maybe, finding allies and help would be easier than he had first thought, they only had to convince the unknown Queen that it was in her own interest to help the strange visitors of her timeline. This would be a difficult task, but John hoped that his knowledge about Wraith he had because of Todd would help him with that.

Todd. A new wave of longing and regret washed over him and John swallowed, trying to push the thoughts of his mate into the farthest corner of his mind. He needed a clear head and to focus on the forthcoming happenings and if the Queen would be willing to help them, then he would see Todd again. He only had to make sure that she did.

 

*~*~*~*

 

To his luck, John’s musings about his mate - and his longing for him - were soon interrupted and distracted by the food Godelind had prepared. The rumbling of his stomach gave the long time away that he had had to deal without proper food. Ever since his change had started, John felt hungry in a strange kind of way and the offered meal seemed to be even more delicious due to his sharper senses.

Godelind brought plates with bread, cheese and fruits, and the smell was almost overwhelming to John. He could almost taste them upon his tongue without even swallowing a single bit of them. Form the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Ronon watched him carefully, probably wanting to get a hint whether the meal was poisoned or not. But, as far as John could tell, the bread was freshly baken, only with „natural“ ingredients, as well as the fragrant cheese and the tasteful fruits.

„Please, serve yourself,“ Godwin offered, handing them two plates. John made the first move, accepting the plate and loading cheese and fruits upon it. „Aren’t you hungry, Ronon?“ he asked his companion, trying to show him that there was nothing he should be afraid of.

„Yeah, I am,“ the other one rambled, taking a plate himself and copying John. He took a smaller amount of food and eyed it mistrustfully but when John bit into a slice of bread, he did the same. Just when they had started to feel more or less comfortable, the door opened again and Ekwin, Gerwin and Hoimar emerged on the threshold, joining them.

John flinched when they entered the room and he noticed that Ronon had stopped eating in the meantime. The welcome procedure was short but not unfriendly and soon, John felt all pairs of eyes resting upon him. „I think that it’s time to tell your story,“ Godwin suggested.

The colonel cleared his throat and drew in a deep breath, deciding to look at the friendly leader of the colony while he told their story. He was the one who most likely had the most contact with the Queen protecting the settlers, and it was important that he believed him.

“It's complicated and might sound unbelievable to you, but I can assure you that we would gain nothing out of telling you lies. We're desperate and we need help to go back where we belong,” he started and Godwin nodded slowly. “Just go ahead, we're willing to listen to you with an open mind.”

“Very well. My friend here, Ronon Dex, me myself, and two other friends still in the captivity of the Wraith Lord actually come from another timeline – from the future. We live centuries or even millennia in the future from this time, and we live in Atlantis, the city of the Ancients. When we arrived there, the war between the Ancients and the Wraith had been about ten thousand years ago, so you might know better than we do how many centuries we traveled back into the past.”

John looked at the white-haired man and Godwin, who looked slightly stunned by his revelation pursed his lips. “If that's true – and it could be, because we know that the Ancients knew how to manipulate the time, then you traveled back almost seven thousand years,” the older man said, and John suppressed a shiver. “Oh, wow, that's more than I thought. But, I also guess that it actually doesn't matter how many years we traveled back. We're stuck here and we need help to reach our own timeline again. We live in the city of the Ancients for six years now and after five years of fighting against the Wraith, we could establish a truce first, and then a peace treaty with a powerful Wraith Commander and his twelve Hives. We built an alliance and we work together to find a solution for the feeding problem, so we can live together without our allies having to kill humans when they feed. A couple of days ago, another team found an old outpost of the Ancients and informed us about it. It seemed to be surprisingly undamaged and we hoped to find a ZPM there. I went there with my team – Ronon and my other two friends, the female leader of the Athosians and a scientist, and when we explored the chambers, one of the devices threw us through the millennia and sent us here. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to find out how we could go back, and before we knew what happened, the warriors of the Wraith Lord had trapped us and brought us to him. He decided to make Ronon and me runners for his warriors, but we don't know what happened to Teyla and Rodney, our two friends after they dragged us out of the cell. The Lord fed on me several times before his scientist implanted the transmitters into our backs and then, we were brought to the planet we escaped from before our arrival here.”

John went silent, returning Godwin's musing glance. “Your story could be true, but, it doesn't explain why you look partly like a Wraith yourself, John Sheppard,” the older man finally said, and John sighed.

“This is something I'm not sure of myself. One of our scientists experimented with a special virus to change Wraith back into humans a couple of years ago. In some ways, I had gotten infected with the first type of this virus when it didn't work properly and it changed me into a Iratus-bug-like creature. Carson, the scientist, found a way to cure me, but the virus stayed in my system, inactive and not dangerous any longer, but, it was still there. Apparently, it has started to work again, visible by my partly transformation. Only that this time, it changed me more into a human-Wraith-hybrid and not into the horrible creature I mutated to the first time. I can assure you that I still have my common sense and can think logically. My senses sharpened and I can sense Wraith in my head, but I am not ruled or driven by my instincts. Actually, my transformation could become an advantage for me and my friends, even more with the transmitter in my back that can be tracked down any time by the Lord's warriors.”

His listeners slowly nodded their heads, the other men sitting next to their mayor watching him with slightly narrowed eyes.

„Do you have any suspicions why you are changing again?“ Godwin eventually wanted to know after John had ended his story.

„Indeed,“ he confirmed, turning the small piece of bread he still held in his hands. „I think that the Lord started the transformation when he fed on me.“

„That wouldn’t surprise me,“ Ronon muttered but, he kept his mouth shut after John had sent him a warning gaze.

„To be honest, I still wonder why I have survived the feeding process, at all. The Lord had been very …vehement, to say it politely. He sucked so much life-force from me that I should have died under normal circumstances. Probably the virus saved me from that fate but now I have to live with the change if I like it or not, even though I probably should be grateful for that under these circumstances.“ He stared at the plate in front of him and the crumbles he had turned the slice of bread into.

A long silence followed and finally it was Godwin who started to speak again. „Well then, thank you for your explanation. Maybe, you would want to take a rest until the Queen arrives. You could gain new strength and digest your meal.“ He stood up and pointed into the direction of the door.

Ronon grumbled another time when he had to leave, looking with regret at the rests of the cheese and the bread. Apparently he hadn’t dared to still his hunger completely, John thought. But, he couldn’t care at the moment - he had to prepare himself mentally for the meeting with the Queen.

They only had this one chance and all their hopes depended on her.

 

*~*~*~*

 

John wasn't sure what had woken him up from his slumber, and he felt as if he had slept for only a couple of minutes, but the very next second, he was wide awake, almost jumping from the small cot where he had lain in.

After their talk with the mayor of the settlement, Godwin had brought them to his guestroom, ordering them to stay there and get some rest until their Queen would arrive, and John now knew that her arrival had roused him from his sleep.

He could feel her presence nearby, unable to truly read her thoughts, but he was pretty sure that she could feel his presence, as well, and she was coming closer, obviously on her way to Mayor Godwin's house.

John bared his teeth to a hiss and crossed the room to shake Ronon at his shoulder. The tall man with the long dreadlocks jolted awake with a curse, his hand flying to the knife hidden in his boot he hadn't undressed during his light sleep.

Old habits died hard, and Ronon had been a runner for a long time, his behavior changing back into the runner-mode very quickly.

“Calm down, Ronon, it's me, John!” the colonel snarled, taking the other man's wrist into an iron grip. The Satedan mumbled something through gritted teeth, his eyes flickering to the door.

“They have not come to get us yet. I woke up because I can feel her presence, their Queen is on her way to this place,” John explained to him and Ronon nodded, pushing his long locks back over his shoulder. “Queens are much stronger than male Wraith. It's not surprising that she woke you up when she arrived.”

“I have to admit that I am curious to meet her. Plus, she seems to be curious, as well, I can sense no hostility so far, only a slight irritation.” John grinned his usual crooked grin which gave him a strange look due to his transformed appearance. Ronon narrowed his eyes as he considered him. “That can change rather quickly, but you are right, Sheppard, we will need help to get back to our own time. I don't think that the humans living in this timeline will be able to help us, so we unfortunately have to rely on Wraith. I'm relieved to see that your transformation didn't go further, you look exactly like you looked a couple of hours ago.”

“The enemy of our enemy could become our friend or ally, at least I hope so. And yes, it obviously has stopped. My ability to sense Wraith has increased more, but that's all. I should warn you though: I don't know how much the presence of a bunch of Wraith with their Queen will affect me, so stay attentive and wary, please.”

The younger man snorted. “Is that a question or a statement, Sheppard? You really don't have to worry about that. I didn't survive seven years as a runner without being attentive all day and night long.”

John opened his mouth, but a knock on their door interrupted them. “Come in!” he called instead, and Godelind opened the door. John could see Hoimar lurking in the shadow of the rather dark corridor behind her. “Our Queen has arrived, Colonel Sheppard, Ronon Dex. Please, follow me,” the mayor's daughter said without her eyes cast down, probably because of John's looks. For her, Wraith were Gods and she wouldn't look her Gods straight into the eyes without permission. John smiled friendly at her, nevertheless. The settlers had been welcoming and kind and she was still more a girl than a woman, her reservations were understandable in John's opinion. “Of course, Godelind. Just lead the way, please,” he said, friendly, shooting Ronon a warning glance. The Satedan nodded quietly, waiting until John had passed him, watching his teamleader's back as he always did and following hard on him.

John took a deep breath and made his way downstairs behind Godelind and in front of Hoimar watching them warily.

It was time to meet the Queen and John could only hope that she would be as willing to listen to them as Godwin had promised them she would be.

 

*~*~*~*

 

She waited for them in Godwin's living room, sitting in a big, comfortable armchair placed before the empty white wall opposite the door. John had noticed the chair earlier and expected Godwin to sit in it during their first talk, but now he got the impression that this chair was reserved for the Queen when she visited her colony, making up for the loss of a real Wraith throne in the mayor's house. Two drones stood at each side of her chair, silent and motionless like statues, while Godwin waited by the door with his head lowered down to the ground in a respectful manner. He remained quiet when the two visitors passed him, and John and Ronon stepped in the middle of the room before the chair to greet the Queen waiting for them.

The female Wraith looked much younger than John had expected it, and she was a breathtaking sight and a real beauty.

John preferred to be with men - given the choice - but he had loved or at least liked a few women before he had met his mate Todd, who had changed his life so thoroughly, and he wasn't blind when it came to female appearances. Living with a Wraith had made him capable of appreciating the strange alien beauty of these amazing creatures, and this Queen was the most beautiful female Wraith John had ever seen.

Long and thick, dark-red curls floated untamed over her straight shoulders and her slim back, cascading over her blue dress like a silky waterfall and shimmering violet in the golden light of the late afternoon shining through the window. Her features were regular and delicate, and her smooth skin was a slightly marbled creamy-white with only a hint of a greenish undertone. Her eyes were more golden than yellow, with a few jade-green sparks dancing around in them, and her fingers resting relaxed on the armrests of her chair were long and elegant with rather short nails, not looking like the claws of other Queens he had met.

Her blue dress was simple and accentuated her stunning beauty because of its simplicity, thick shining dark-blue velvet enclosing her perfect figure like a second skin to open up to a wide skirt that would swing elegantly around her legs when she walked.

The Queen looked back at him as he took in her sight with her head tilted to the left side, a frown of irritation wrinkling her ceaseless forehead. She didn't look unfriendly, but John could tell that something was putting her off, and he remembered the reaction of the Wraith Lord to his changed smell. John readied himself for a mental attack as her frown became deeper and her sensor slits flared with her deep inhaling, but something seemed to keep her from forcing herself into his mind.

Ronon standing behind him shifted his weight, and John could feel impatience and confusion coming off in waves of his friend as the Queen and he himself did nothing than just stare at each other. John stretched his arm behind his back, patting Ronon's forearm in warning to keep him from acting stupidly and maybe attacking the Queen and her drones.

The Queen straightened in her seat and the colonel could sense her calling out for someone telepathically, but it wasn't him she contacted, but must be one of her Wraith warriors she probably wanted to join her. John decided to get on with their task to win the Queen as their ally and to start their conversation by acknowledging her as the strong ruler she certainly was with a short bow of his head. “It is our pleasure to meet you, Ma'am.”

The Queen's eyes widened in surprise for the blink of an eye and she finally beckoned John to come closer. “Come to me, John Sheppard. Godwin told me your story beforehand, and I'm open to hear you out before I'll decide if I'm willing to help you. But, there is something you didn't tell my loyal friend, something important. The Commander of the twelve Hives you built an alliance with – he must be more for you than just an ally, John Sheppard. I can smell his scent upon you.”

John lifted his chin in instinctive defiance and wariness. The Lord hadn't taken it well that a Wraith had bedded a human and he certainly would have killed him if John had dared to tell him the truth. But, John wasn't willing to lie to this Queen and make himself a worshiper he wasn't.

The colonel who had changed into a Wraith-human-hybrid looked the Queen straight into her eyes, the grim expression on his face making clear that he wasn't joking, at all, as he said: “Yes, he is. He took me as his mate one year ago.”

The Wraith stayed silent for some time, watching him thoughtfully and taking in his scent again as if she wanted to taste it on her tongue and burn it into her memory. “I see,” she eventually stated. “This might change everything. As I said, I'm willing to listen to you, John Sheppard, but we have to wait until my Commander has seen to securing the gate and the settlement. I want him to hear your surely very interesting story, as well.”

John nodded, allowing himself to relax a little bit. “Of course, Ma'am.”

The Wraith smiled and it was an actual smile and not a threatening grimace. “You may call me by my name, John Sheppard. I am known as Dark Violet.”

John blinked, taken aback by that offer and unexpected revelation. “Uhm – thank you Ma'... Dark Violet. It will be my pleasure,” he stammered and the Queen chuckled, amused. “You didn't think that Wraith have names, did you?”

John shrugged his shoulders, grinning sheepishly. “We were told when we arrived in Atlantis that Wraith don't have names. We gave the Wraith we had to deal with names, but they never really appreciated that gesture.”

Dark Violet tilted her head to the side again. “I'm sure they didn't. Not all of us have names. Us Queens have names, but we don't share them with everyone. Most other Queens I know don't allow their worshipers to use their names, but I know that humans need to address other beings by their names and Godwin is allowed to call me Dark Violet when we're alone. Sometimes, a Queen names her consorts and the most honorable ones of her officers. It's a great honor for them and they value their names highly, but keep them a secret when it comes to other clans or humans. By the way, the Lord you had the displeasure to meet wears the name Scarface.”

Ronon let out a strangled sound, and Dark Violet shot his companion an amused look. “Yes, this name suits him very well, Ronon Dex.”

“You are not like any other Queen I've ever met!” John suddenly burst out, unable to hold back his amazement any longer. Dark Violet eyed him with shimmering eyes. “You are not like any other human I've ever met, either, John Sheppard. But, this was to be expected, I guess. After all, you're claiming to be his mate and he always appreciated strength, uncommon behavior and courage, especially among humans.”

Before John could ask her what she had meant with her ominous words, the door opened, and a tall, impressive Wraith entered the room. He bowed before his Queen on his way to her chair, using spoken words as a gesture of politeness to the humans lacking telepathy in the room. “The gate and the village are secured, my Queen. Scarface will have a hard time in case he really decides to attack our colony. The second Hive is on its way and only one hour away, it should arrive in time to protect the planet from outer space together with your flagship.” The heavy, black coat swung around the long legs of the tall officer as he strode forward, and John's heart began to race with excitement as he stared at the Commander of Dark Violet's flagship.

He looked so much younger than John had ever seen him, his forehead smooth and ceaseless, the few wrinkles between the eye-ridges John had caressed so many times not being where they would be seven thousand years in the future from now on. His white hair was as unruly and wavy as John remembered it to be, falling tousled and untamed over his broad shoulders, and the colonel had to swallow against the huge lump in his throat. This couldn't really be, could it? It couldn't be that they had met in the past, that he was the Commander of this Queen, maybe even her consort?

Tears threatened to well up in John's eyes as his longing almost crushed him, and Ronon's startled roar as his friend caught a look at the tattoo enclosing the Wraith's left eye wasn't helpful, either.

Dark Violet snickered, seemingly enjoying the situation. The Commander hadn't looked at the two runners so far, and he also wouldn't recognize John, being seven thousand years younger and not his mate yet, but now, he stopped right beside John, his nostrils flaring as Dark Violet's nostrils had flared as he inhaled deeply John's scent. The Commander slowly turned his head to look at him, a stunned and disbelieving expression on his handsome alien features, and John flinched when Dark Violet's voice cut through the heavy silence, her amusement about the odd situation clearly audible.

“Starfighter, let me introduce these two runners to you, Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex. They traveled through time, seven thousand years back into the past, and their story will be quite interesting, I guess. I want you to hear them out together with me, because the happenings might affect you even more than any other being here in this galaxy.”

'Starfighter' just stared at John, and the colonel stared back, unable to avert his eyes from the one being completing him in a way no one else had ever completed him, making him feel whole and happy in a way John had never experienced before, and his voice was only a broken whisper as he croaked out one single word:

“Todd!”

**Author's Note:**

> I oftentimes get inspired by music to my stories.  
> Last summer, I somehow lost my link to the Stargate Fandom and my Wraith, and I had to find a way re-bond with it. I did so by watching Wraith-videos on youtube and three of them, underlaid with songs inspired me to this fic:
> 
> 'Dance with the Wraith', music: 'Dance with the Devil' from 'D-Devils'  
> 'TODD, My Destiny', music: 'My destiny' from 'Third Realm'  
> 'You think you're a man... John / Todd', music: 'You think you're a man' from 'Divine'


End file.
